Naruto wanderer
by Kingdark
Summary: Naruto learned more then the Kage Bunshin when he stole the forbidden scroll of seals. He learned, among other things, the secret and other variations of the kage bunshin and used those to his advantage to learn and master the memorized ninjutsu. Unfortunately, he didn't make much progress until his fight against Orochimaru pushed him over the edge.. Rating M to be safe...
1. WhenYou learn that ninjutsu is dangerous

Naruto: wanderer

Kingdark: idea is based on another fic called 'Breaking the rules' You may see some similarities but

I'm going to do things differently and I hope better too. After a very long time of not publishing anything, here is something that I think is worth reading. Enjoy.

(detailed) Summary:

When Naruto read the scroll he was supposed to steal for Mizuki, he realized something was wrong. The Ninjutsu and genjutsu in that scroll were all extraordinary powerful and were with only a dozen or so exceptions all suicide techniques. So, Naruto hides the real scroll away after memorizing and mastering the Kage Bunshin and its related techniques (just in case) and then waits to confront Mizuki. At the same time, Naruto learns of the Kage Bunshin trick and has a single clone go to the hidden location of the scroll and memorize as much as possible of the scroll.

Chapter Zero: Prologue

Whenever Naruto tried working on the techniques he had memorized he always made sure to stay a good distance away and to always make sure it was his clones that worked on those Ninjutsu. The Ninjutsu that were put into that scroll were (nearly) all suicide techniques. They were all extraordinary powerful but they tended to kill the user afterwards. His clones however were entirely safe to use. Although they did give him trouble about him being far too comfortable sacrificing himself. Technically.

The third Hokage had known exactly what Naruto had done but since Naruto had already memorized the techniques, he just made sure that Naruto knew exactly how to use the techniques and to ONLY use them through his clones. The only way that Naruto was allowed to use those techniques himself was if there was no other choice. The third Hokage had actually delayed the team ceremony for an entire month and had spent the vast majority of it working with Naruto on the techniques.

To say that Naruto was angry when he was informed that the third Hokage had been killed by Orochimaru was an understatement. To say that he was pissed when his teammate ran to the one responsible was the understatement of the century. So it was understandable that when he was given the opportunity to take the traitor down permanently…

Naruto had promised to keep his knowledge a secret. Naruto hadn't told anyone of what he knew. Not even Jiraiya. Hiruzen had explained that not many would be comfortable in Naruto knowing such powerful techniques. If they knew they would either try to erase the knowledge, seal the knowledge or even worse. Bottom line, nobody knew really what Naruto was capable off.

To say that Orochimaru was surprised when Naruto began throwing high level Ninjutsu at him was an understatement. To say that he was surprised when he recognized some of those techniques (he had developed some of them himself) but more importantly, to realize that his clones were using those techniques effortlessly was the understatement of the century. It made him get serious far sooner than anticipated. Naruto wasn't giving him any chance to taunt him about Sasuke to make him tap into the Kyuubi's chakra and make him far more predictable. Needless to say that strategy was thrown straight out of the window.

In the first few moments of the fight, Naruto had knocked Sasuke out cold and had thrown him to his team mates. In the next, Kabuto lost his head. Literally. The only thing that Naruto had going for him was that nobody expected him to be able to do this stuff. Orochimaru on the other hand…. The man was a sannin. A veteran of war. It didn't matter how fast Naruto was, he wasn't going to catch the man off guard with low level techniques. To take that man down he would have to give everything he had. That meant… Naruto dismissed his clones with a thought and replaced them with a new group. A group that was up to date with his plan. Twelve of chis clones positioned themselves around their location, each forming seals in perfect synchronization.

Naruto's clones were positioned in a circle. More or less. The Ninjutsu they were attempting would literally erase anything within the circle but it would take down the user as well. Nothing remained of the previous users that tried to use it. The few that tried wanted to try and make the technique safer to use.

None of those that had previously tried it had used Kage Bunshin. Mostly because it drained so much chakra that making the clones and then trying to use the dangerous Ninjutsu technique was next to impossible. For Naruto though… Naruto was more than willing to make the gamble.

The real Naruto had long since switched with a clone and was suppressing his chakra as much as he could. He had several more clones standing by that would switch with him in order to get him out of the blast zone. Team seven had long since retreated on his orders. They had never seen him so serious and Naruto hoped they wouldn't be stupid enough to approach and be caught in the blast zone.

Just a moment before Naruto finished the string of seals, his clones switched themselves with him so he was taken out of the blast zone quickly. As soon as he was outside of the circle he started running. On the way he encountered team seven who had stuck around the area to allow him to catch up.

"RUN!" Naruto shouted. "My technique is unpredictable and I do not want to stay around to see what it does!"

They didn't react fast enough to his liking so Naruto took things in his own hands. He created enough clones and they forcefully grabbed them, threw them over their shoulders and started running alongside Naruto.

A second later the technique went off. Unfortunately, Naruto had miscalculated. It didn't matter how far the user was, the technique would 'pull' him back no matter how far he ran.

"Crap." Naruto exclaimed as he felt something grab him and pull him back. Naruto noticed immediately that his clones were unaffected so they just kept running. Naruto created another clone and dispelled it immediately after. That would give his other clones an update and they would then tell his team mates about his biggest secret that wasn't the Kyuubi.

The closer Naruto was to ground zero, the strong the pull became. Naruto tried everything to try and slow him down. He tried using chakra to stick himself to any surface he could get a hold off, but the pull was too strong for even the biggest trees to slow it down too much.

Naruto, out of desperation, resorted to pulling on the Kyuubi's chakra but even that didn't slow him down at all. Naruto realized that his gamble had for all intents and purposes failed and even though he had taken Orochimaru down… He wasn't sure what would happen if he got dragged into IT as well.

The Ninjutsu technique was one of the most dangerous techniques that had been in the scroll of seals. Not only was it considered ridiculously expensive when it came down to the amount of chakra that it required but it was described as 'banishing everything' within the blast zone.

The third Hokage had taken that as being utterly destroyed. Naruto didn't notice the memories of his clones that were taking team seven away from the blast zone, but he DID notice them shouting his name in the distance.

"YOU FOOLS!" Naruto shouted. "Get away from the blast zone unless you WANT to be erased!"

Naruto didn't want to die, but he also didn't want anyone dying with him. Not Sakura, not Sasuke, he wasn't entirely sure about that Sai guy or their new teacher. Or Kakashi for that matter. Naruto had never entirely forgiven him for barely teaching them anything at all. Still, he didn't want the man to die and that was nearly unavoidable if they stuck around. It didn't occur to Naruto that the third Hokage may have misinterpreted the technique. But that wasn't too surprising since none of those trying the seal had ever 'returned.' There hadn't been any trace left of them so it was only logical to assume they were dead, gone and buried. If only they knew…

Naruto was pulled to the center of the technique faster and faster. Team seven was hot on his tail and Naruto knew there was only one way to keep them alive. He stopped struggling and started running towards the center instead of resisting. Naruto hoped that if he got there first, it would prevent the others from being destroyed as well. Too bad for him that he had forgotten the golden rule about team seven. Those who abandon the mission are trash. But those who abandon their teammates. They are worse than trash.

Naruto, team seven and Orochimaru were all swallowed up by the technique, which then detonated and erased everything in the blast zone.

X

The nature of the technique was that it would banish those within the blast zone. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage took that to mean that it would erase those within the blast zone. To the point where there was literally nothing left. He was wrong. He couldn't be blamed though, after all none of the previous users had ever returned to tell a different tale. But maybe that would be different with Naruto, team seven and Orochimaru?


	2. Where nothing is as it seems

Naruto: wanderer

Kingdark: Wow. I'm astonished by the amounts of favorites and followers I got. I didn't even KNOW that I had so many. Thank you. Really. Future updates will be coming. The chapters will be longer at five thousand words a piece so that'll mean it might take me a bit longer. Also, my work has closed up until after new-year. So that means I have more time to write then I would otherwise.

Final note: I just wanted to be absolutely clear on who is pulled into the center of the technique.

 **Naruto** (unconscious) **Sakura** (unconscious) **Sasuke** (unconscious) **Tenzo** (unconscious) **Orochimaru** (awake) and finally… **Kakashi**. (unconscious) I only realized (and remembered) later that he actually wasn't there. I don't remember why he wasn't there so if anyone could remind me that would be grand. Anyway, Kakashi WILL be there. It's too late to change it now anyway. Kabuto's fate is unknown to team seven and Orochimaru.

Chapter 2 – Nothing is as it seems. Including people who are supposed to be traitors… Like Orochimaru.

The nature of the technique meant that it would suck anyone into itself as well as dragging the user kicking and screaming. The 'radius' of the technique was defined by a) the amount of chakra pumped into the technique. b) the mental guidelines you had at the time of forming the seals and your location. In this case it was particular ingenious when Naruto used Kage Bunshin to form a vague circle around their location. It meant that the technique had properly defined guidelines.

But it also meant that the 'circle' was pretty damned big. It meant that literally everything 'loose' was dragged into the technique. Rocks. Trees. sharp and pointy things. You know. Anything that happened to be loose during a high level shinobi battle.

In this case it meant that six shinobi were dragged into the technique along with everything that happened to be light enough. In other words, there was a huge amount of dirt was dragged into the technique and would be expelled into another world. A world that would be caught off guard and had many bad experiences with visitors from another time, place or both.

Orochimaru had been in the center of the technique and hadn't stood a snowball's chance in hell to resist the technique. So he had been sucked into the technique before he realized what was happening. Naruto had been a fair distance away in the hopes of outrunning the technique, being unaware that it would drag him into the technique no matter how far or how fast he ran.

The importance of this fact? Because Naruto would have built up a pretty high amount of speed. So he would also **exit** the technique at a pretty high speed.

As for the rest of team seven? They were hot on his heels, chasing him as quickly they could. So they were also dragged in on top of how quickly they were going. All by all… They would exit on the other side very, very quickly.

Orochimaru exited the other side of the portal pretty gently. He only needed a few moments to realize what was happening. Not only was the chances of being stuck here pretty high unless he could interrogate the caster on the details (that being Naruto) it also meant that getting another high level shinobi body was low as well. Unless there were humans on this world with interesting powers.

Orochimaru point of view (p.o.v)

Orochimaru was lying on the ground, not knowing exactly what had just happened. One moment he was on the top of his game and the next high level techniques were being thrown at him, some of which he had developed himself. To put insult to injury he had never been able to actually use them because they were more or less suicide techniques. Not something he could use since he actually wanted to live forever. It had never occurred to him to use Kage Bunshin to make his techniques useable.

Orochimaru groaned as his body twitched from phantom pains. If only he had known wat jumping bodies like he was doing, would do to his sanity in advance. He would have figured out an alternative.

' _Why did I want to be immortal again?'_ Orochimaru asked himself for probably the thousandth time. _"Oh right. To learn every damned Ninjutsu, genjutsu and Fūinjutsu in existence."_

Shrugging, he looked up to try and orient himself when he noticed something. Noise. Not just noise but noise associated with a dense city. Orochimaru sought higher grounds immediately and barely stopped himself from gaping like a first year academy student.

"I think it's safe to say I'm not in fire country anymore." Orochimaru muttered to himself.

Orochimaru jumped down only noticing then that the portal to which he exited was still open and still blowing random stuff out of it. He barely avoided several trees and only then realized that they were doing a lot of damage and that the noise he heard also included a lot of panicked screaming. Being who he was, it was pretty normal to hear panicked screaming so he pretty much shrugged it off. It wasn't like he cared. The chances of there being anyone capable of going toe to toe with him were low right? Just as he thought that thought, team seven was blasted out straight at him.

Some instincts never fade away completely and Orochimaru instinctively grabbed the bodies being thrown at him at high speeds and stopped them in their tracks.

"Why did I just stop them?" Orochimaru asked himself. He realized that his thoughts weren't as chaotic as they were before. In fact, he had never felt better in years! Shaking his head, Orochimaru decided that it was better to find a place and lay low for a while. Hopefully the natives wouldn't be too angry about the damage of their training ground. It was at that point that the portal started collapsing and Orochimaru started running. If the explosion on this side was going to be as bad as it was going to be on the other side…

Then it was going to be a big one and Orochimaru realized that finding ignorant foreigners on ground zero was **not** good. He certainly knew how a Hokage would react. So he hightailed it out of there at high speeds with the unconscious team seven being dragged along by Kage Bunshin.

Who was it again that said that old dogs couldn't learn new tricks?

Once Orochimaru neared the edge of the training ground he realized that he couldn't just blast through them at high speed. He would have the local AnBu on his tail before he could blink.

So he would just observe them for now. He could still use pure force and pure speed to get past them. But Orochimaru would keep that as a last resort. Just in case though, Orochimaru created another dozen or so clones and had them exit the training ground on the other side to check their reaction and to gather information.

X

Orochimaru's clones managed to get out of the training ground fast enough and made themselves lost in the city itself. They used their experience to disguise themselves as a random passerby and then walk around the city to try and gather more information. The fact that the people here spoke an entirely different language wasn't much of a barrier for a man of his intelligence. Still, even Orochimaru would need several days at _least_ to start making headway into their language. Just listening to random civilians without any form of reference would just increase his confusion. Add to that unknown (possible) accents and it made it even harder.

The only immediate useful piece of information was the fact that he had better get out of the training ground quickly because the local police and possibly the military were mobilizing to seal the training ground off. It was still ridiculously slow though. Seventh year academy students could have reacted faster as the local AnBu did here.

It was good for him though. The only thing he needed now was an isolated place to lay low and more time to learn the language. Oh and of course he needed a way to keep team seven and Sasuke in check and keep them from attacking him. Orochimaru admitted if only to himself that he needed allies and if they ever wanted to get home they needed each other's help. They needed him because he had developed the technique in the first place and he needed Naruto because he was the only one that had the details how the Ninjutsu was done.

Perhaps it was time for some highly classified information to be made known to them as well….

But first he needed a place to hide.

X

Several frustrating hours later…

To say that Orochimaru was frustrated was an understatement. He had never seen so many people in one place. How could anyone keep a country this populated secure? He could think of a dozen ways of causing some high level damage and that was with only using basic techniques that civilians could use! Hell, just by tapping into some criminal elements he could possibly paralyze the entire city! To realize that this city wasn't even the biggest was a surprise.

Orochimaru realized quickly that he needed to get as far away of this city as possible. But at the same time he needed to stick around to monitor the local police and military and he couldn't continue to use Kage Bunshin because they didn't last long enough and the longer he kept them alive the bigger his headache became when they dispelled themselves. Orochimaru had no idea how Naruto managed to keep creating such big numbers and not feel the painful headaches.

Orochimaru needed to make a decision though. He couldn't keep team seven unconscious. He supposed he could wake Sasuke up, but he wasn't sure how the teenager would react. He couldn't risk Sasuke alienating team seven but at the same time… Team seven would do everything in their power to get 'Sasuke back' even when the teen didn't want to go back.

'Perhaps I could send him on a mission?' Orochimaru considered. They could communicate through summons and it could be a way to keep team seven in check. But then he needed to have something as a sign of goodwill.

A moment later, Orochimaru knew what to do. He needed to go solo. Leave Sasuke behind along with a shadow clone of himself. They would be restrained for a while of course. He couldn't risk them not hearing the information he had gathered. Then it was simply a matter of building trust. Leaving Sasuke behind was a risk. He would be forced to use his backup plans when this body unavoidably gave out. Orochimaru couldn't suppress a shiver. He really didn't want to return to his 'old' body. He feared that it would feel so good that he wouldn't WANT to 'jump bodies' again.

On the other hand, this world was a LOT more advanced so perhaps they had technologies that would offer new opportunities for his immortality that didn't require him to jump bodies?

In any case, it didn't matter. He was used to work by himself. He had built up his village from the ground up after all. Granted it had taken him nearly two decades for it to come into existence. A great deal he had managed to do as a shinobi of the leaf.

Orochimaru ruthlessly suppressed the familiar twinge he felt at the thought of his old home.

" _Why am I suddenly reconsidering these things?"_ Orochimaru wondered. He had never been one to deny truth. To deny truth was to fool yourself and to fooling yourself could only lead to failure. Orochimaru shook his head and pushed those issues aside. He would deal with that crap later.

Yet another couple of (frustrating) hours later…

Finally! Orochimaru had found what seemed to be a nature reservation. Surviving in the forests such as this came as easy as breathing and Orochimaru was confident that he could lose any wannabe pursuers without much effort. Thanks to some convenient earth based Ninjutsu he had acquired, he could build himself an undetectable bunker for a few days.

Orochimaru nodded to himself. Orochimaru created an additional Kage Bunshin and dismissed it immediately after. It would alert his clones that he wanted them to dismiss themselves or if they were in a situation where that wasn't such a good idea, they were to create a low level Kage Bunshin to update him on their situation.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case and one at a time the clones dismissed themselves subtly and without being seen. In fact, the information he gained was absolutely… Informative if you could forgive the pun.

For those who had known Orochimaru before he went crazy, the smile he was currently wearing would be nostalgic… And very dangerous to Konoha's enemies before he crushed them.

Orochimaru left the hideout after making sure it was secure and that it had several emergency escape tunnels. The information he had gotten made it absolutely clear that there were some really dangerous fighters here.

X

I'm sorry, I promised you a five-thousand-word chapter, but I just couldn't resist cutting the chapter off here. I bet you didn't expect a chapter centered around Orochimaru did you? Did you catch the few hints I left in the chapter? Nothing is as it seems.

Total word count: 2268


	3. WhenYouLearnThat nothing is good or evil

Naruto: wanderer

Chapter 3 – Where you learn that you can't classify the world into either good or evil…

Kingdark: Kakashi is still present. Even though he is 'supposed' to be recovering. Let's pretend that Tsunade pulled a secret technique out of her hat and healed him right up back to full strength. That aside, I do have another reason for wanting Kakashi present. I even hinted at it in the previous chapter. Granted it was a very subtle hint but I'm curious if you can figure it out before it is revealed.

X

Orochimaru undid the seal that kept team seven unconscious and they did so within seconds of each other. He had placed them in such a way that they would notice each other, Sasuke and himself immediately. Sasuke was still kept unconscious because his obsession about his brother gave him the creeps and that was saying something. Considering all the bad jokes that could be made about him wanting Sasuke's body… And that really didn't come out the way he wanted it.

It only took a few seconds before they started throwing insults and threats at him. Surprisingly, Sasuke's name was present in every other word coming from Naruto and Sakura. The other two adults just threw threats at him while Sasuke's replacement was one of Danzo's minions. He just kept quiet and observed. Smart.

It was a good thing that Orochimaru knew how to read lips because he hadn't disabled the seals he had placed on their throats. It kept them from being able to make a sound. Very useful if you didn't want to be distracted by the screams of your test subjects. ' _Why does that thought give me a bad taste in my mouth?"_ Orochimaru wondered absently. Shrugging and shoving that thought with the rest to deal with later _**much later**_ , Orochimaru focused back on current matters.

"I think you'll find you are unable to make a sound." Orochimaru informed them calmly and with a touch of smugness. "I did this so that you would listen to me and-" Orochimaru cut himself off to give Naruto a _look._

"Really, you are trying to tap into the Kyuubi's power when I'm just trying to tell you something of importance. Do you really want to hurt your long lost team mate with the stuff?" That snapped him out of the anger he was feeling. Really now, what had he said to piss him off so much?

"That's probably a fake!" Naruto said. Or would've said if he could make a sound.

"No. He's not. You'll find out once I dismiss myself too." Orochimaru said calmly.

"Now, if you could be so kind to shut the hell up, the sooner you do so, the sooner you can see for yourself that Sasuke-kun is the real deal."

Orochimaru waited just to be sure they would wait and then he continued.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, I am a Kage Bunshin." Orochimaru informed them. "Once I'm done you'll be released so kindly keep being quiet now would you? Good." Orochimaru nodded to himself. He didn't care if he had repeated himself.

Orochimaru explained to them the basic details about the Ninjutsu technique that had caused them to end up here. "Even though I developed the technique, I still need the details about how you used it if you ever want to get back home." Orochimaru said, giving Naruto a look.

"Why should we believe a word you are telling us?" Tenzo asked suspiciously. Orochimaru rolled his eyes. Of course his surviving experiment would be suspicious of him.

"Because you'll be able to confirm it for yourself once I dismiss myself." Orochimaru said with a shrug.

"Fine." Naruto said sharply. "I'll tell you want you want to know, if you prove to me that Sasuke is the real deal."

"How would I do that?"

"Easy." Naruto said with a shrug. "Use Henge to disguise yourself as Itachi and refer to him as his foolish little brother."

Orochimaru actually looked at Naruto with a shocked look. For someone who was supposed to be Sasuke's best friend… That was astonishingly cruel.

"You want me to make his obsession _**worse?**_ " Orochimaru asked, barely believing what he had just heard.

"Naruto, that's a bad idea." Kakashi interrupted. "Not just a bad idea, but BAD, with capital letters and everything!" The man said sharply.

"It would wake him up." The teenager defended.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. Yhea, that was damn sure. It would piss Sasuke off and he wouldn't calm down for _hours!_

"Just cut him." Sakura interrupted. "A Kage Bunshin can't tolerate that much damage and even if you made a blood clone it would betray itself very quickly.

'Smart girl.' Orochimaru thought.

Shrugging, Orochimaru had a kunai in his hand and made a shallow cut in Sasuke's hands. Seeing that, he then used healing chakra to seal the wound again.

Seeing, their shocked stares, Orochimaru scowled.

"What is it now? Did you honestly think that I only use medical techniques for my experiments? I did have Tsunade as a team mate you know! Honestly." Orochimaru muttered.

"Now if you could so kindly stop distracting me, there are still things I need to know and things **you** need to know."

Knowing that this was his cue, Naruto very reluctantly answered any questions that Orochimaru had relating the technique and in what mindset he had been.

"It's very interesting to know that even though the real you were way outside of ground zero, that you still were unable to run." Orochimaru mused out loud.

"How did you get yourself out of ground zero so quickly?"

"I switched with my clones very quickly after each other." Naruto answered. "Actually, if you wanted to be completely accurate, my clones switched with me in a fast fashion. I would've wasted too much time otherwise." Naruto explained.

"That's good to know. That's confirmed then at the very least. Orochimaru said thoughtfully.

"Now that you answered my questions, let me fulfill my part then.

Orochimaru followed that up by summarizing what the technique was supposed to do when he was developing it, the tests they had done and why the seal had been put into the forbidden scroll. He followed that up by explaining that the technique obviously hadn't erased the users like first thought and that they were not in fire country anymore or anywhere on the continent for that matter. They were in fact in a place where no amount of travel on foot or on sea could get them home.

"So, I'm sure you understand why neither of us can afford to be enemies with the other." Orochimaru half asked half stated.

Tenzo and Kakashi looked at each other knowing that the man (Orochimaru) had a point but not wanting to be the one that made the decision.

"Fine." Kakashi said with a sigh. "For however long it takes us to get home, we will not initiate hostilities unless it is to defend ourselves. You have my word as a Jounin of Konoha."

Tenzo scowled but then pushed his anger and hate of the man to the back of his mind. "I second the decision that Jounin Kakashi made." Technically it was supposed to be the other way around. Tenzo had a higher rank then Kakashi. Kakashi may have been an AnBu captain when he was younger, but he had been honorably dismissed when he agreed to look for a team of Genin to teach.

"That's good enough for me." Orochimaru said with a nod.

"My time is nearly up, so I'm going to get the last details out of the way. You are currently at the deepest level of a class A underground bunker by the standards of the second shinobi war. There are several escape tunnels which are appropriately marked, again by the standards used during the second world war."

"Why use the standards of the second world war?" Tenzo asked with barely contained hostility. Though you could only hear it if you knew him. To the Genin present his question was the very definition of being polite.

"Because the system used during that time is the most secure. Konoha lost a great deal of its… How do I put this… Konoha of the here and now is not as good as it was during my time." Orochimaru explained calmly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded.

"It means that if the Konoha you know were to be attacked or would get into a conflict like the one during my time… They would either be crushed or their loses would be incredibly high. It would probably last until the survivors of the first conflicts get enough experience." Orochimaru explained.

"That actually makes sense." Kakashi said, interrupting Naruto when he wanted to defend his home.

"Times of peace are horrible because it means that with every veteran dying of old age or because they are retiring is one that can't be easily replaced."

Naruto wanted to argue, he really did but… However much he didn't want to hear it, he knew it was true. Jiraiya had taught him a lot about politics and about the hard realities of the wars he had fought in. About the missions that had happened which were still classified because they never happened.

"Why the escape tunnels though?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Because as far as I am concerned, we are in hostile territory. Probably enemy territory." Seeing their confused looks, Orochimaru frowned. Hadn't he explained this already?

"Our exit through the portal was not peaceful, to say the least. I had to dodge giant trees, even bigger rocks and I nearly got skewered with kunai and shuriken several times. Then I had to catch all of you to keep you from being killed. Anyway, if you want to get back to the city where we ended up, you need to travel for several hours to the east at high speed to get there."

"If you haven't guessed already, the locals are not pleased with this to say the least and if they were speaking the same language I could have tried doing some damage control but they don't speak the same language as us, and as good as I am in languages… Even I can't figure out an entire language without having any form of reference to work with. "

Orochimaru took a deep breath to calm down. The naivety of these Genin were pissing him off.

"Look, you may not believe me, but I want to get back home as much as you. I have people I care about; people I have to protect. People that will be vulnerable with me being gone. So let me give you a piece of advice. Nothing is as it seems. Look beyond the obvious."

Orochimaru then formed a single seal and the chains and seals restraining team seven faded away.

"One more thing. Don't try to summon a toad just yet." This was directed at Naruto. He figured that the others with a summoning contract wouldn't try it unless there was no other choice.

"You could very well kill them doing so or drain yourself dry of chakra trying to summon them. I'll find you if I get more information you need to know.

Having said anything and everything that was relevant, the clone of Orochimaru dismissed itself, exactly as Sasuke woke up.

Sasuke had been having a grand time in Oto with Orochimaru as a teacher. The man was constantly pushing him beyond his limits and was helping him with anything and everything if it would make him a better shinobi. Sasuke had never realized how much he hated living in Konoha where everything around him reminded him of his loss. It was in Oto where Sasuke was able to grieve for his family and slowly let them go. That didn't mean he was ready to confront his team mates just yet though. Unfortunately, you couldn't get everything in life so when he woke up and found himself surrounded by Konoha nin with Orochimaru disappearing in a puff of smoke and at the same time having missed everything…

Sasuke could only admit it to himself, but he knew he was in trouble. He knew that he couldn't escape because he was far from being at his best. Considering that they wouldn't let him out of their sight… He wouldn't go back to Konoha though. He just couldn't.

Sasuke also knew that neither Sasuke or Sakura were the same people that they had been three years ago. Both of them had been studying under Jiraiya and Tsunade respectively. Orochimaru had told him that the sannin had been weirdly balanced with each other. Sort of like the age old game of stone, scissor and paper.

The fact that both of them looked eager to express their displeasure with his abandoning Konoha three years ago and he knew he was in trouble. Even Kakashi looked like he was barely restraining himself from teaching him a painful lesson. That probably had more to do with him using Chidori against Naruto and barely not killing him more than him leaving.

X

Note: I don't use the 'great' when referring to the great second or first shinobi war. There is nothing great about it after all. I'll just refer to it as the first world war and the second world war. Or the first shinobi world war and the second shinobi world war.

Also, if they use letters going from D to S to classify missions and shinobi then why not use that system to class other things as well? This is my Christmas present. It is a bit longer than my previous chapters. A bit of a warning though, I may or may not merge all three chapters into one chapter later. Personally, I really dislike reading chapters under five thousand words. But it is much easier writing shorter chapters that you can review and publish immediately. It's also much easier to edit and keep track of everything.

Kingdark


	4. When a snake learns about redemption…

Naruto – Wanderer

Chapter 4

Kingdark: I want to explore Orochimaru's character a bit more. So that's what this chapter is going to be about. That and you'll see some of the reactions in Konoha…

When a snake learns about redemption…

Konoha – Kage tower - several hours after the battle

"What do you mean there is no trace of them left?" Tsunade demanded dangerously. Jiraiya wasn't intimidated though.

"That's all I know!" Jiraiya defended himself.

"One of my summons alerted me to some kind of glitch on our contract scroll and well… Have a look."

Tsunade accepted the scroll, knowing that her being allowed to handle, let alone see the contract was unusual to say the least. The only reason she could do this was because Jiraiya was her ally and because the toads and her own summons had good relations with each other. As soon as she examined the scroll, glancing over the names and focusing on the one that signed it most recently, she immediately realized what Jiraiya meant about a glitch.

"Let's see if this is the same with Sakura." Forming the seals, Tsunade summoned the slug that held her own contract. The slug already seemed to know what this was about because it offered the scroll without complaint.

"Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya immediately glanced over the names and like Tsunade focused on the one that had signed it most recently. 'Haruno Sakura' was signed in blood liken normal. What was most definitely -not- normal was the fact that her name was flickering between active and inactive. This was unusual to say the least because if someone who had contract died, then their name went inactive. If the shinobi in question was revived, through surgery or another method that brought the shinobi in question back to live, then they had to get into contact with the summon again to reactivate the contract. So the name flickering was definitely not normal.

"What do you think this means?"

"I have a few guesses but no evidence whatsoever to back it up." Jiraiya admitted.

"Tell me." Tsunade ordered.

"Remember that is just a theory so…" Jiraiya reminded her.

"Yes, yes, now tell me already!" Tsunade said irritably.

"I think they may be out of range."

Tsunade blinked. That she did not expect.

"Out of range?" She repeated.

"Like… Beyond the range of a summon to work? But it works, even on the other side of the world! Even the chakra requirements are the same!"

"I know. But that's the only thing I can think off."

"What about reverse summoning them? No, before you answer that, where do you think they are?"

"Have you read the forbidden scroll recently?" Jiraiya answered her question with a question of his own.

Seeing that Jiraiya was still looking very serious, Tsunade answered the question immediately and without hesitation.

"No. In fact, I haven't read it at all since adding my own experiments to it, decades ago."

"Give it a read over." Jiraiya advised. "Trust me." He added.

Hesitating only for the briefest of moments, Tsunade walked to the shelve where the scroll was and opened it. At the first glance she knew immediately it was very different. She gave the scroll a quick read over, then she stopped halfway. Shook her head and read it again.

She looked up to Jiraiya with her mouth hanging open. "This is…"

"Yhea. It is." Jiraiya agreed with a nod. "Now look the scroll over but look for a technique that might support my theory."

Frowning, but doing as suggested, Tsunade walked to her desk and looked for a technique that might support Jiraiya's theory. After about fifteen minutes of comfortable silence, she found it.

"This is…"

"An experimental technique from Orochimaru years before he went bad."

"So you think…"

"Did you know that sensei told me something and made me swear on never writing one of my books again if I told anyone?"

Tsunade just shook her head.

"He told me about the unusual circumstances that allowed Naruto to graduate from the academy. He told me that Naruto memorized the scroll in just a few hours. He confirmed this by having Naruto make a copy of the scroll on memory alone and it was as identical as you could imagine. In fact, the only differences were related to grammar and spelling as well as pointing out a couple of things that even we overlooked.

"Did Naruto ever…?"

"No. Naruto never spoke about it or hinted at it for that matter. In fact, if I hadn't known about it I would never have known about it period. Sensei made Naruto swear to only use any of those techniques with a few exceptions if it was a matter of life and death. Techniques like the Kage Bunshin were okay, since Naruto could use that effortlessly."

"Tsunade… I have taught Naruto anything I know during those three years that I had him and he never told me."

"It's not like you aren't keeping any secrets from him."

"I could say the same about you." The toad sannin answered. "But that's not important here. Naruto promised and the brat never breaks a promise. For Naruto to have used this technique… It must mean something happened. Just encountering Orochimaru or Sasuke wouldn't have pushed him to use that technique."

"On the bright side, it means Akatsuki won't be able to touch him." Tsunade said after a few moments.

"That's true." Jiraiya said with a nod. "But back on the matter of reverse summoning him. I don't want to risk it. Let's say that the technique succeeded in its original goal. That they are in a world close to us in dimensional terms. It would require gigantic amounts of chakra to get them back. Not only I the summoning technique different then this technique… It might amount to the same effect as a fly going splat against a shinobi moving at high speeds."

"Why?"

"Because this technique opens a door to the outside world if you don't mind using that analogy. The summoning technique on the other hand opens a door to another room. So using the summoning technique to try and get Sakura or Naruto back… Might cause them to go splat against the front door of the house because it is still closed and locked shut."

"That would be bad." Tsunade said after a few moments.

"Yhea… No kidding." Jiraiya agreed.

"What about using the technique again...?"

"I wouldn't do that except if there was no other choice." Jiraiya told her. "Not only is there a genuine risk that I may end up in a world different as where team seven is but…"

"But?" Tsunade prompted.

"Tsunade, the area where the technique was used… It left literally nothing behind except for lose sand. The entire area… It's like someone took a clean bite out of it. That means that all the stuff missing here… Has potentially gone to the other side. Now imagine if that happened on our side."

"I definitely wouldn't be happy… The potential damage alone would be enormous."

"Exactly." Jiraiya said with a nod. "That means that the people in charge on the other side will not be happy and for it to happen again, albeit on a smaller scale…"

"I don't like it, but you have a point. So… What do we do?"

"We wait. Did you read the bottom notes that Orochimaru wrote?"

"Ehm..." Tsunade glanced down and read them again. "This…"

"Orochimaru theorized that if you wanted to get back to your starting position, the same people that were within the technique would have to be present again."

"But that was only a theory, not even based on fact, just… guesses!" Tsunade protested.

"But it makes sense doesn't it?" Jiraiya insisted. "Tsunade… This means that Orochimaru may have to work with team seven. You know as well as I do why he did as he did. This may give him the chance to finally let it out. A fresh chance."

"But for him to do that would mean…"

"That we will never see any of team seven again." Jiraiya agreed.

"However, that's the worst case scenario. I remember talking with him about this technique, and Orochimaru told me that there were another few things he 'thought' about the technique but he didn't want to write them down because those thoughts were even more… Farfetched."

"Tell me." Tsunade ordered.

"He thought that time could go differently for them as it goes here. It may go faster or it may go slower."

"Meaning what exactly?"

"In the best case scenario, what we want to happen is that time goes a bit faster for them as it goes here. It gives them more time from their perspective go get back here. Sure, it means they could be much older but that's what we want to happen. On the other side of the equation… Times goes slower for them. It could mean that by the time they arrive here, all of the people they are familiar with are either old or dead."

"That's…"

"Yhea. I'm not sure what I want to happen." Jiraiya said with a nod.

"So there is nothing that we can do?"

"We can only study Orochimaru's notes and put our best people on the technique, and make low level tests."

"But the notes say that the user is always sucked into the technique!" Tsunade protested.

"Maybe so, but I have a theory that if you get far away enough, then it could be possible to escape the technique. It should only have 'that much' pull after all."

"I suppose you're right." Tsunade said reluctantly.

X

Unnamed forest – Orochimaru

Orochimaru was far enough from the bunker that they couldn't possibly catch him. Not even Kakashi could find him now. Not when he used every trick in the book to disguise or erase his tracks. Orochimaru intended to gather more information. He needed to know how much they had damaged their ability to talk to the locals. While it was true that their exit had caused a lot of damage, injuries and possibly a few deaths, it had been night time so it could have been much worse.

This fact along with the fact that they hadn't done anything wrong would hopefully work in their favor. The problem… He still didn't have the first clue how he was supposed to communicate with them. The chance of someone existing that could talk to snakes was minimal. After all, he had been the only one who had it. Little Anko hadn't wanted to go through the trial to gain the trait.

Not that he could blame her though. Having to survive for a week in a forest infested with snakes big enough to eat you, and them actively hunting you… If you failed, the test you got eaten alive. It was only because of his experience that he had managed to force himself through the trial. There was the option of quitting but then you were erased from the summoning contract permanently.

That hadn't been something he had wanted to risk. Konoha had needed the strength of the snakes.

Deciding that he had nothing to lose, Orochimaru searched for any signs of snake activity in the area. After an hour of fruitless searching, Orochimaru expanded the search by creating a dozen clones and them going into random directions for a few hours and keeping a sharp eye out in the meantime.

Picking a random direction that was _not_ east, the snake sannin made his way through the forest.

Frowning at the lack of any predators and very few prey in general, Orochimaru had a funny feeling he had unintentionally stumbled on something unusual. Then he found something huge. Webs. Not just the webbing you found with normal spiders, but giant webbing capable of trapping the biggest birds and even humans with ease.

"In what sort of fucked up world did I end up now?" Orochimaru thought to himself. Knowing that touching the webbing would probably summon its owner very quickly… Orochimaru considered what to do. This certainly explained the lack of prey or predators in the area. Especially snakes. Orochimaru wasn't sure if he should move forward or just go back.

Observing the trees gave no hint of any spider, waiting for prey foolish enough to get stuck in its web.

Creating another dozen or so clones, Orochimaru retreated a bit and had his clones move forward aggressively. Immediately, a dozen spiders who had apparently been blending in perfectly with their webs assaulted his clones. They fought back as he would and were easily winning when even more spiders came from further in the forest. First one clone was destroyed, then another. Orochimaru gave a mental order to fight with everything they had to take down as many as they possibly could.

Immediately, the casualties on the spider's side doubled and then tripled. They just kept coming though.

Orochimaru kept a sharp eye on his surroundings. He had kept three clones in reserve that were hidden in the trees around him. He wouldn't allow the spiders to catch him off guard. He reinforced the clones with more copies and slowly, the spiders were being pushed back. His clones burned the sticky web and kept killing anything that moved.

Orochimaru was a front line fighter classified as having the power of an S class fighter. S for suicide. Meaning that if you didn't have the power or experience (or both) then it was suicide to try and fight him.

Finally, the real Orochimaru advanced as well. He would crush this infestation to the point where they weren't a threat for the rest of the forest. 'I hate spiders.' Orochimaru thought as he kept killing any stragglers.

"GIVE NO MERCY! GIVE NO QUARTER! KILL THEM ALL!" Finally, there was a way to truly let loose.

Several hours later and the spiders were in full retreat. Orochimaru was only slightly winded despite having fought the giant spiders as well. While they had numbers on their side, they didn't have any form of strategy. They were just insects after all. He could crush thousands of them without breaking a sweat. He hadn't even pulled his big techniques yet. That was on purpose though because he didn't want to alert the locals to his presence.

Finally, he arrived to what seemed to be the main nest. This was proven by the husks hanging around that had been caught prey. Some of it still lived too. "Help me…"

"What the fuck?" Orochimaru thought. That was a voice. A voice coming from one of the husks.

Orochimaru changed his mind. He wouldn't just decrease their numbers to manageable numbers. He would Wipe. Them. OUT!

Creating as many clones as he could spare, they charged everything that moved and cut down any and all husks, cutting the webbing open.

' _Children. They had caught CHILDREN!'_

Orochimaru didn't allow any spiders to escape. He killed all of them. Of all husks only a handful were still alive and he wouldn't have many fingers left if he put those that were beyond saving out of their misery.

Orochimaru grabbed the survivors and let his clones deal with the surviving spiders. They wouldn't let anything escape.

Hopefully there was a settlement nearby where he could drop these poor bastards off. Orochimaru kept walking at a brisk pace and finally noticed the first signs of human civilization. Torch light in the distance along with human voices…

X

Does anyone have an idea what world they ended up in?


	5. WhenYouLearnThereAreBiggerFishInTheSea!

Naruto – Wanderer

Kingdark: I want to stress that despite appearance's, Orochimaru _**may**_ not be a good guy by any stretch. Just think about Itachi and his reasons that the Uchiha clan was destroyed… Except Sasuke of course. Orochimaru will have his reasons for acting as he did but for all you know, they could be good, bad, selfish or just _not_ selfish. That's for me to know and for you to keep guessing. I think I'm going to try and keep with the theme of the titles I have been using. Even though some may not make any sense with what actually happens in the chapter. Not **directly** at least. I think you'll find that most titles are still appropriate even if you need to look beyond the obvious. That's all I'm going to say about the matter.

Finally, until further notice, when I refer to team seven, unless specified otherwise, I'm referring to Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura,

Chapter 5

When you learn there are bigger fish in the sea

Orochimaru considered his options. Should he approach the village out in the open? For all he knew this could be a secret military base or something. He doubted it but still. Could they know he had exited that portal back in the city? No. Orochimaru didn't think that was possible. As far as he knew they had not been seen or caught on camera.

Deciding to stick with the theme of using Kage Bunshin, he sent another clone out in the village to take a peek at their clothing so he could copy it for himself.

A few hours later…

Orochimaru sighed in irritation when his clone still hadn't dismissed itself. All the nudges he had sent it had failed to get a response. To be honest, he was starting to get worried and had moved several times already. But there was only so much room and a limited amount of places to hide. Finally, he could feel the familiar rush of memories rushing back and he steeled himself. The two extra clones were extra vigilant just in case they had been discovered.

It took Orochimaru several minutes to process the memories and when he was done he could barely believe what his clone had discovered. It was unbelievable. Incredible even. To think that he may have stumbled on the answer of his dream of immortality entirely by accident! While Ninjutsu, genjutsu and Fūinjutsu were thought of 'like magic' by the ignorant civilians. They were in fact based on structured rules and even science. What he had seen these people do, broke all of the rules that he knew off.

His clones had found homes which were a lot bigger on the inside then they were on the outside and while

Fūinjutsu could do very amazing things, it certainly wasn't capable of doing anything like he had seen here.

The scientist in him was screaming at him to learn from them and then use that knowledge to his advantage. Oh, how he wished that he had the time to learn all he could.

He couldn't abandon team seven to their fate. Not when he still wanted to go home. So even though it was incredibly tempting he would have to just use what little time he had to study their arts and see if he could use it himself. Orochimaru nodded to himself and -very reluctantly mind you- turned away from the village back into the forest. Orochimaru had no idea that he had in fact been detected from the beginning and that he was being judged the entire time. They had seen his history, his character, his reasons for doing anything he did and they had decided to give the man the biggest and possibly one of the most important tests in Orochimaru's life.

If he resisted the temptation to resort to his old methods, he would fail the test. But should he manage to resist and put the promise he made to team seven and his promise to those he promised to protect before his goals then they would help him as much as they were able. If that meant guiding Orochimaru to a path where he could accomplish his dreams through a form of immortality, then so be it.

X

"He's an interesting character." One of the villagers said calmly. He was known as Innkeeper.

"He is. But he still has a lot of darkness in his heart though." Another answered. This was a woman. She had demonstrated all sorts of things that were impossible through the techniques that Orochimaru knew. She also happened to be married to the Innkeeper.

"He did pass our test…" Innkeeper reminded his wife.

"That he could even stumble on our village despite its protections says enough." The wife agreed.

"So what do we do?" Innkeeper asked.

"We'll offer him a deal. He and his companions do a number of quests for us in return for a boon of their choosing." The wife answered.

"Are you sure that is a good idea? That man is incredibly talented. He won't ever be a threat to the likes of us but he could still become a very dangerous enemy to the mortals.

"True. So you're having second thoughts about offering them the usual 'complete my quests and be rewarded with a boon of your choosing?"

"He _could_ ask to become like us you know." Innkeeper pointed out.

"Doubtful but possible." The wife acknowledged. "Let's do it anyway." She said cheerfully.

The duo then turned back time to the point where Orochimaru was just leaving and where he would never walk away.

X

"Going somewhere?" A voice asked calmly. One thing you had to know about the Sannin was the fact that despite peacetime, **some** instincts never fade away. Suffice to say that if the innkeeper had been human he would now be a human with lots of pointy things sticking in him.

"Now that's not very nice." Another voice commented. Noting that the man he had tried to kill was still alive without even a scratch on him, Orochimaru refrained from attacking this one. He recognized both as the innkeeper and the other who appeared to be his wife.

"Who are you?" Orochimaru answered the question with another question. His senses were screaming at him that these two were very dangerous, something his clone hadn't been able to sense before.

"You could say we are the best thing you are ever going to meet in your life." The woman remarked. "You may refer to my husband as innkeeper and to myself as… Chef. Yes, that sounds about right."

Calming down, slightly, Orochimaru had a feeling that he would have no choice in continuing this conversation.

"My name is Orochimaru of the Sannin." Orochimaru introduced himself. He left out the part where he was supposedly a traitor to the military he had been part off. Such things were never taken very well even when taking his reasons and his back story into account.

"Oh, we know." Innkeeper remarked. "We know you as well as you know yourself. Probably better. We know exactly why you did as you did in the past and the reasons why you have your dream and your goals in life."

Okay, that Orochimaru did not expect.

"We actually have a proposition for you." Chef informed him. "By the end of it, you may ask us for any boon you desire… Depending on how well you complete or quests of course."

" _Wait, what?"_

"I'm listening." Orochimaru said cautiously.

"You're careful. Smart. But there's no need to be. This particular deal is very straightforward. But first… Let me tell you about what we are."

"We are, or rather, mortals tend to refer to us as planewalkers. That basically means that we can travel other dimensions freely. Like the technique you developed in your youth, except that we know exactly where and when we are going."

"What does that mean exactly when you say you can visit other dimensions?" Orochimaru asked with a frown.

"Hmm… Consider that for every decision you make, there is a place where you do something different. In fact, consider the fact, there is a place and time, where the only difference being, is a leaf going left instead of right. Or perhaps landing an inch to the left instead of to the right. Now, consider that, and consider the fact that such worlds are being created by every passing second. Keep that in mind and add to that worlds where you are a different gender. Where you are born in a different village…"

Orochimaru tried to understand the sheer scale of what he had been told but realized very quickly that even with his intellect it was beyond him.

"Now take what you know already and add to it what you think are realms of fiction. Again, the same rule applies with every single action taken being possibly different creating a different world. My wife and I are capable of traveling where we please."

"Okay, so what do you want from me?" Orochimaru asked cautiously.

"It isn't what we want from you… But what you would want from us. See, we sensed six mortals being thrown in what would basically be oblivion before we interfered. So we redirected you to this world to observe you and see what you would do."

" _That means I and team seven owe them our lives."_ Orochimaru realized. _"They want something from us, perhaps they can't interfere directly. Could they be policed by their own kind which forbids personal interference?"_ Orochimaru pushed those thoughts aside. He didn't have enough information.

"What does that mean exactly? You just told me that you saved my live and that of team seven. That means that we owe you some kind of debt."

"Even you?" Innkeeper asked curiously.

"I value my life, so even I would think that way." Orochimaru concurred.

"That's why you mentioned something about completing quests for you right?" Orochimaru guessed.

"Oh my, he's a smart one isn't he?" Chef remarked cheerfully.

"As you can imagine, at our level of power, there isn't much that can oppose us except other planewalkers. But even that can get boring. That's why our kind tends to give out quests to interesting mortals in return for some kind of boon…" Innkeeper explained.

"Of course that boon also depends on how well you complete the quests and how well you have obeyed our guidelines."

"They are called guidelines for a reason though. They aren't rules set in stone but rather a… How should I say this… Hm... Ah. I know. They aren't rules but rather a way to increase the difficulty and to increase any possible rewards."

"That's very interesting." Orochimaru admitted freely. "What sort of quest did you have in mind? I don't think that my companions would be willing to work with me… Not without them preparing to stab me I the back."

"Like you would have done if you hadn't arrived here?" Innkeeper pointed out sharply.

"Yes…" Orochimaru admitted. "I honestly don't know why, but I feel much better for some reason. Like, I can think clearly after years of being drugged."

"Or being put under a high level illusion." Chef suggested.

"That…" Orochimaru frowned and tried to figure out if she could be right.

" _Of course. DANZO! That son of a bitch."_ Orochimaru took a very deep breath to calm himself down. Now was not the time to go on a killing spree.

"We could always generate some spiders for you to kill." Chef offered. "Free of charge."

Knowing that he would be able to think more clearly, Orochimaru didn't hesitate to agree.

"I'll even restore you to full strength, no charge as well." That said, Orochimaru felt all the bruises and other bothersome scratches vanish and his chakra reserves being refilled to their full strength. Then he felt some weird tingling in his body and he realized that he was no longer in another body but in that of his original self when it was in its prime.

Deciding not to question what they did for him -free of charge- Orochimaru charged into the nest of spiders to spend some of his anger.

X

"Now why did you do that?" Innkeeper remarked.

"Do what?" Chef asked innocently.

"Restore him back to his prime."

"I never said he would stay that way." Chef defended.

"That's why all your mortals kept dying because you kept taking away your gift because you thought it would be amusing." Innkeeper said.

"True." Chef agreed without shame.

"But I don't think I'll be doing that this time around. That man interests me. He has such an interesting character. Despite the things he did in his past, being under an illusion or not… He doesn't even care because of the results it got him. Truly, an interesting character."

Innkeeper rolled his eyes. That definitely wasn't how he would describe it.

"You do realize that you just gave him what he wanted right?"

"A new chance? Sure I do."

"Not what I meant." Innkeeper disagreed.

"Jeez. Okay, fine. If we want Orochimaru to be able to complete the quests, we're going to give him what he needs to be at his absolute best. I don't want to revive him from the dead. They never come back entirely sane. Always whining about being ripped from their eternal rest or they keep screaming because they still think they are being punished because of their actions in their mortal lives." Chef complained.

" _Oh boy, she can be scary when she wants to be."_ Innkeeper thought fondly.

"Actually, I know for a fact that Orochimaru will agree to it now that he realizes what we can do for him. After all, you know that he can still ask for certain advantages when he goes on the first quest. It would be silly if we sent him in without preparation." Chef reasoned.

"But does HE know that for sure?" Innkeeper asked.

"We'll tell him if he doesn't." Chef answered with a shrug.

"What did you have in mind then?" innkeeper asked curiously.

"A gift for languages, allowing him to read, understand and speak any language he encounters, but only the ones he encounters in those forms."

"Meaning?"

"It means that he can't suddenly speak, write and understand a dead language if he can't first hear it, have it read for him and having to speak it himself first. In that order.

read it, hear it and speak it first. Something like that at least."

"That's reasonable." Innkeeper agreed.

"What else?"

"Don't know." Chef answered with another shrug. "Let's let the mortal decide shall we?"

X

Orochimaru looked at his battlefield and felt better than he had in a while. Turning around, Orochimaru left the clearing that had held some of the people he had already killed in his life. Some were enemies and some were old allies. It had been very satisfying to kill them.

"Let's let the mortal decide shall we?" Orochimaru heard chef say. _"I wonder what I am able to decide?"_ Orochimaru wondered absently.

"Ah, Orochimaru! Feeling better?" Chef asked.

"I do." Orochimaru agreed.

"Now, I think it's time we get to the point." Chef told him.

"You and your companions will be sent to other worlds, where you take the place of another. The other won't be harmed but will simply be in another place, living a possible alternate life. Events will happen and you'll just need to go with the flow. Basically."

"Shouldn't you give me some sort of ultimate objective?" Orochimaru wondered.

"Do you want some sort of ultimate objective?" Chef asked in return.

"It would make things easier." Orochimaru agreed. Then he blinked.

"Wait, you said me AND my companions will be sent to other worlds? I'm not sure if they would agree to any of this."

"We will offer them the same deal as we are offering you."

"If they refuse?"

"Then they will live their lives here with each other without any other people whatsoever. But they will live in comfort if that's a consolation." Innkeeper explained.

"But I will be making them an offer they can't refuse. All the power they could wish for to complete their dreams. The power to kill his brother for dear Sasuke. The knowledge and power to heal so she can surpass Tsunade of the Sannin. To not be useless anymore for dear old Sakura. More information and knowledge of Ninjutsu so he can have something to back him up for the power of Hokage… For dear old Naruto…"

"Enough!" Orochimaru said shortly. Clearly they knew exactly what to offer to get them to do what they wanted. Even if it would make them hypocrites if they accepted. Even if they didn't have choice BUT to accept.

"What about the things they learn? The friends and allies they make?"

"What about them?" Chef asked.

"Could these 'mystery allies join them? Go with them in future quests? Because you mentioned several quests right?" Orochimaru asked.

"That depends. If they are smart about what they ask of us for their rewards, they can cover each other and essentially ask for something far more complex then they could ever ask on their own." Innkeeper explained.

"So did you say multiple quests? Does that mean multiple rewards?"

"Indeed. Multiple quests, multiple rewards or… Several quests with one huge reward. It depends."

"You keep mentioning rewards and boons, but what exactly does that MEAN?"

"Anything and everything you could imagine." Chef said with a grin. "We're powerful enough to change the world as you know it to your specifications. Your, specific world I mean. Not a variation but _yours_."

"Okay, but I don't think I would change anything in my past." Orochimaru admitted. "I am the man that I am because of the events in my past. If they change, then I will change as well. By that reasoning… I wouldn't ever meet you. Possibly at least."

"True." Innkeeper agreed.

"Do I have to do this alone?" Orochimaru wondered. He would do better with allies. Even if they could barely trust him.

"Didn't you just tell me that you didn't think they could work with you?" Innkeeper pointed out.

"Maybe so, but I think in this case they may make an exception." He hoped. If they knew everything at least.

"No. They wouldn't." Innkeeper said flatly. "I am having this conversation, or a similar conversation with them at this moment and they refuse to work with you if they can possibly avoid it."

"Truly?" Orochimaru couldn't identify his current feelings about that revelation immediately, but he did know that he wasn't happy about it.

"So what do you want of me?" Orochimaru wondered.

"To do a number of quests for us. Your first one will be easy though so don't worry. I will even thrown in a few extras on top of what you would normally get. It's nothing special. You may compare it to the basic equipment you took with you when you went on missions."

" _What could I ask for when I have no idea whatsoever what's lying ahead of me. Perhaps I should keep it in reserve for an emergency?"_

" _Yes."_ Orochimaru decided. Keeping it in reserve was his best bet… Assuming he could cash it in if he needed it.

"Can I-"Orochimaru began only to be cut off.

"No." Chef said shortly.

"You will either choose your free boon, or use it to increase what you may ask for."

"Then I want to be given any books, scrolls or any other information I could need to become a master in the arts _Fūinjutsu_. I don't want to learn about it instantly, but I want to study it on my own and every time I get to a certain point, A _Fūinjutsu specialist_ will appear to test me on my knowledge."

"This is the free Boon you choose from us?"

"Yes."

"Very well. You will find the required books, scrolls and other pieces of information shortly after you wake up when you start your first quest."

"So, just to repeat myself from before and to make it absolutely clear, I'll say it again. With every mission you complete for us -yes _**multiple**_ quests- you earn a boon from us. You can either cash that boon in after the end of the mission or you can save it up for a more complex boon if you so desire. You may ask us if a wish is within the boon you earned as many times as you want and we will tell you if it is possible or not."

"In any case, we won't send you without preparation or without having supplies… Of a sort at least." Chef informed him.

"You will be able to understand the written and spoken word as if you were a native of it you're whole life. However there are a few requirements before it'll kick in. First and foremost, you'll need to be exposed to the spoken language from anywhere to a few hours to a few days. Secondly, you will need to see the written word and have it read for you. Last but not least, you will have to talk to several -different- people and your mastery of the language will improve with leaps and bounds every time. This only applies to a single language, so you'll need to repeat the cycle for another. But once you get a language, it is permanent and lucky for you, but this applies to older forms of the language as well." Chef explained. Then he held his hands up to show he wasn't finished just yet.

"Now, should you ever be in a situation where you can't follow the correct order then you can just observe and try to learn the language on your own. You already have a talent for foreign codes and foreign languages. Trust me when I say that this is now probably a MAJOR talent of yours. Free of charge of course."

Then when Innkeeper coughed clearly, chef rolled her eyes but added a single sentence anyway.

"And it'll be permanent too of course."

 _"Now THAT, that could be very convenient."_ Orochimaru thought to himself.

"Of course, we can't forget about the most important part." Chef said with a creepy grin.

"Indeed we can't." Innkeeper agreed.

Then, faster than Orochimaru could follow and he was already on edge from the moment he saw that creepy grin of hers. Both innkeeper and Chef literally disappeared and were then restraining him in the next. It wasn't speed that was sure, they literally vanished and the popped up in another location. Orochimaru was then confronted with more pain then he had ever felt in his life. Starting from his feet it spread slowly upwards.

"If you can make it until it has spread to your head then you'll get what you failed to gain before." Chef informed. But this time, her voice was cold and without emotion.

"However in order to do so, a price of pain needs to be paid."

Even though he was in a lot of pain, it was impossible to ignore or not hear what Chef and Innkeeper were telling him.

After what felt like an eternity later, Chef spoke up again. "If you wish for the pain to stop, say so plainly and it will. But it also means that you have gained nothing yet and the price will not have been paid. You will still be, after a fashion still be in debt."

Orochimaru decided that he could handle this. He was one of the strongest shinobi of the leaf and… No. He wasn't. He wasn't a leaf shinobi any more. His actions, being forced by an illusion or not had made sure of that. For the first time in years, Orochimaru cried. He cried because of the horrible things he did. Of the relationships broken and having basically destroyed his reputation.

Chef and innkeeper looked at each other in satisfaction. The pain while needed, was only a disguise to encourage Orochimaru to deal with some old pains. They hadn't lied when they said that he would get what he wanted. What he had failed to get before. They had spoken the truth when they said that the longer he managed to withstand the pain, the bigger his reward.

X

Around the same time where Orochimaru meets chef and innkeeper…

Underground bunker…

X

X

Around the same time where Orochimaru meets chef and innkeeper…

Underground bunker…

X

While Orochimaru's meeting had happened, chef and innkeeper had been having a similar meeting with team seven.

"Do we have an agreement?" Chef asked.

Team seven looked at each other, not knowing what to do. The offer was incredibly tempting. Especially after all that chef and innkeeper had done for them already. Free of charge. They would have to work for the debt they owned him, but they would be separated doing so.

"Why are you al so reluctant to… Oh. You all hesitate because you'll be separated? Even if each of you have done solo missions before?

"Not on this scale, I haven't." Sakura told him with a frown.

"But even so, why is it that you don't want to tackle this solo? Even with the potential rewards at the end?

"Because we stand a better chance with allies watching our back then when we try to do so alone." Sasuke answered.

Chef and innkeeper had done a lot for all of them. Free of charge. It said a lot when it was Sasuke who answered that question. The first thing that chef and innkeeper had done was examining every member of team seven old and new. For Sasuke they had examined the cursed seal that Orochimaru had given him. They had changed the nature of the seal so that it would still give Sasuke a significant power boost. Only it would be a clean power boost. All the elements that manipulated Sasuke's negative feelings had been eradicated. The only part that remained was that it would react in different ways to different emotions.

That was only the first thing they had done. They had examined Sasuke's memories, especially the ones relating to the Uchiha massacre. What they had done for him was brilliant in such a way that it allowed sasuke a neutral look AND it allowed him to finally put it behind him... Up to a point of course. They had made it appear to sasuke as if the massacre had happened decades ago. All the happy memories were still clear as day, but the evening of that terrible event could only be remembered very vaguely.

Of course it didn't stop there. There had been several other seals on Sasuke. About a handful. Taking apart they were pretty harmless but together they had made him act the way he did when he was younger. The seals had exaggerated certain feelings and would basically guarantee they would make him act as the lone wolf. That attitude could get him killed much sooner in the field especially the way the seals were put together. So whoever had put the seals on him wanted Sasuke dead in a way that couldn't be traced. Because the seals were designed to erase themselves on death.

"Sasuke-san is right." Sakura agreed. She too hadn't come out of it untouched. Her devotion to Sasuke had been examined by both chef and innkeeper. Sakura too had several seals on her. Just like Sasuke, she had a handful of seals on her that were harmless by themselves, but combined with each other…They had turned a simple crush into an honest go God obsession.

Grouped together as the seals were they were clearly designed to prevent Sakura from seeing any negative qualities that Sasuke may have. The moment the seals were removed, Sakura reconsidered everything she knew about Sasuke and how she felt about him. It forced her to take a step back until she could figure out how she felt about him. It also explained why she was no longer referring to Sasuke in an overly affectionate way.

Finally, there was the third member of team seven. Uzumaki Naruto. Just like his team mates he had several seals on him. Also a handful and also innocent if taken by themselves. These however had a much darker purpose apart and taken together.

The first seal simply blocked a part of his heritage on his mother's side. It prevented him from ever tapping into what was known as the Uzumaki chakra chains. It didn't do anything more than that. The second seal was only partially successful. The seal's original purpose was to also block and seal his heritage from his father's side. Namely an absurd strong affinity to the wind element. However, the seal was only partially effective. This resulted in Naruto only having an average strength affinity to wind instead.

While the first two seals definitely weren't very nice, they paled in comparison with the third, for it was the most complex and definitely the worst. The third seal was actually an very high level modification of the original. The original seal was meant to be used on prisoners of war. It prevented them from focusing on a single objective (such as trying to escape) for a long time.

If that was all the third seal did then it wouldn't be so bad, but it wasn't the original seal, so it was that bad. The modified seal still guaranteed that Naruto couldn't focus on anything. Except if something interested him by a lot. As proven when he learned the kage bunshin in a short amount of time. The seal should've made that impossible. The next part of the third seal actually emulated the 'disease' known as ADHD. It made him hyper active all the time and it made it very hard to control his emotions when it was proper. A side effect was that he didn't care much for formality either, using rude nicknames for people he cared about.

The last part of the seal was actually what made the third seal so bad. It's original purpose was to suck as much chakra out of his chakra system as possible. Had it worked as intended then Naruto would've had much lower then average chakra reserves with virtually no improvement whatsoever.

It was only to Naruto's benefit that the seal had malfunctioned. The seal hadn't been capable of consuming Naruto's natural reserves. Not even when he was a kid. All that chakra though had to go somewhere and so it was still there. A lifetime of chakra into what was essentially a bottomless pit. It had forced Naruto's body to work harder to recover the chakra it was losing. eventually it had gotten to the point where the recovery rate was much faster then the amount that Naruto continued to lose. They hadn't removed this part of the seal so that if Naruto ever got into a situation where he had used over three fourths of his reserves, then that bottomless pit would begin to pump its contents back into Naruto's chakra system.

Just like they had done with Sakura and Sasuke, chef and innkeeper explained the seals on Naruto and what they had been doing.

Just like the younger members of team seven, Kakashi had not come out of it untouched. The seal was the reason why he was such a bad teacher when he became the teacher of team seven for the first time.

There were no seals on Tenzo except for his AnBu seal and a seal on his tongue.

Sai was a complicated teenager alright. He had been taught to be an emotionless tool. He had seals on him that prevented him from deviating from the mission parameters. It made him a slave basically to the one that put the seals on him. The seals were destroyed or changed so that Sai could finally develop as a person.

X

"A compromise then." Chef decided. "You do a single mission solo each. When it is completed, you will meet a different member of your team at which point you do another mission for us. At the end of that mission, you'll meet the second pair and do another mission. By the time you do a third mission, you'll be together again. Does that sound fair to you?"

"What about Orochimaru though?"

"He'll be part of it of course. But you'll only meet him at the end. He has a lot of… Thinking to do. A word of warning though." Chef began sharply.

"Just like you had seals on you… So was he manipulated in the way he acted. He isn't an innocent man by any means, but he isn't guilty completely either. I would advise that you remember this carefully."

X

Kingdark: I updated this chapter to fix spelling mistakes and I added a decent amount of words as well.

Updated on 15/01/2016

New word count: 5.628


	6. The needs of the many vs the few

Naruto – Wanderer

Kingdark: Yes, I included Sai, even though I had different plans for him at first. Plans which required him to be elsewhere. I scrapped that original idea when I realized I needed an extra character so I would have enough characters in total so they could be paired up after they completed their first mission. _Technically_ I needed **two** extra characters but there is nobody else that I can reasonably use except for Kabuto and I need him for another purpose. So just to make this absolutely clear so there is no doubt whatsoever, the Naruto characters will be the following: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Sai, Tenzo and last but not least: Orochimaru.

Note: I updated chapter 5 a little, it has a few hundred words extra so it MAY be worth to reread. If you can recognize what is different... You may gain a boon yourself. :p

Chapter 6

Where you need to make a decision about

the needs of the few vs the needs of the many.

X

"A compromise then." Chef decided. "You will each do a single mission solo. Which will result in seven missions total for us. That will be the first wave so to speak." Chef explained.

"When you agree to your second mission you'll meet up with another member. Who it is depends on if they have already completed their mission or not. So your partner will depend on who is free. If nobody is free, you can relax here or master the things you learned during your mission here as well. Of course you can do that anyway for a while if the both of you agree." Innkeeper continued the explanation of his wife.

"When your second mission is complete, you'll get another partner which means there will be two teams of three and Orochimaru will still be going solo at this point. That would be mission number three. Finally, when that mission is completed, **all** of you will come together and to a final mission together. Does that sound fair to you?"

The answer was definitely not enthusiastic but they agreed.

"What about Orochimaru though?"

"Like I said, you'll do the last mission together. You'll meet him only at the end. He has a lot of thinking to do. Let me give you a word of warning though. Just like you each were manipulated and had seals on you… The same is true for him. I won't deny the things he did, because he definitely did them. But it wasn't him **completely.** Understand what I'm trying to tell you?" Chef asked.

x

"No, I don't think that would work. No. It needs to be a bit different." Innkeeper said after a moment.

It only took a moment for chef to nod in agreement. "So can I, I suppose." Chef said reluctantly. "A shame though. It was a good idea."

"Doing it like that won't built any trust between you and each mission that follows will be a lot harder. You'll need every drop of experience and resources you gain during your missions. I think I know what to do instead." Innkeeper said with a smile.

"Instead of leaving it up to chance who your partner will be, you will be coming here after you complete your mission. You can use that time to perfect techniques you have learned or just to perfect other skills you may have gained during your mission. Once everyone has completed their mission, you will ALL be debriefed in such a way where, lying deliberately is impossible. After the debriefing is over, you'll be given the chance who you will partner with and who will be going solo." Innkeeper explained.

"This means that by the end of the day, you will have completed a total of fourteen (14!) missions for us. You'll be compensated for every mission you complete with a boon. This boon is worth a certain amount of effort and can either be saved up over several missions or you can use it up immediately and work with us so that when you complete a mission, a boon is automatically completed."

Seeing that he had lost them somewhere in his explanation, innkeeper repeated what he said but in different words. "Say you have a complicated wish; we can agree to cut it into pieces so that with every completed mission you will be a step closer to the entire thing. Once you complete the last mission, your complex wish will get the finishing touch so to speak."

Everyone seemed to be happy with this compromise with a single exception.

"What if I don't **want** to work with Orochimaru period? That man is responsible for killing the closest thing to a grandfather I had! He also gave Sasuke that despicable seal which caused him to run away so Orochimaru could take his body for his own!"

"The seal is no longer an issue and unfortunately, we can't do anything about that Sarutobi Hiruzen. He is even beyond our power to recall from the grasp of Him. If you don't want to work with Orochimaru, you will be stuck here. Permanently. Your friends and Orochimaru will still be completing missions for us. They will be getting their rewards as well as compensation for completing their missions and you will not get anything." Innkeeper answered easily.

"I will do the missions." Sasuke said eagerly. FLASH Sasuke disappeared in a flash of light.

"I agree as well." Sakura said immediately. Having removed those seals or not, some habits were hard to break. FLASH she vanished.

"I will too." Kakashi said simply. FLASH

"As will I." Tenzo added. FLASH

"And I." Sai said. He had his own orders to follow after all. FLASH

"I need some time to consider it." Naruto said. "Will I have time to decide?"

"Of course."

"You'll have all the time in the world to make a decision. Just say the words: 'I have made my decision' followed by 'I agree or 'I disagree' at which point you'll either be sent on your first mission or you will live your life here in peace."

X

For Naruto, the decision in front of him was hard. Akatsuki was a genuine threat. He knew that much. Without him, they would never be capable of completing their goal. Whatever it was. So by agreeing to live a life alone… He would be denying Akatsuki the chance to complete their goals and Kyuubi would also be trapped in this world when he died.

Naruto didn't know what to do. On one hand, if he remained here he would be betraying everything he believed in. But as a Kage, he would have to be willing to sacrifice everything to protect his home. If it meant protecting his home, could he deny himself the position of Hokage? Or rather, the **dream** of Hokage?

X

"You're wrong you know!"

Naruto jumped in surprise but refrained from attacking, having recognized the voice at the last second.

"Even though you would deny Akatsuki the chance of extracting the Kyuubi… They would still be capable of getting its chakra." Chef then explained how they could and would accomplish this.

"How are YOU here?" Naruto demanded. Having gone on high alert immediately after.

"What do you think I'm doing here?"

Naruto growled. "Why should I forgive the man who killed the closest thing I had to a grandfather?"

"Ha!" Orochimaru snorted. "You clearly don't know sensei as well as you think you do brat."

Naruto stopped himself from attacking at the last moment. As much as he wanted to kick Orochimaru's ass he (quite literally) couldn't. Even if he wanted to.

"Are you telling me that my staying behind here wouldn't make any difference?"

"Your sacrifice would be entirely pointless." Orochimaru agreed. "You should know this too so I will remind you. Sora."

Naruto blinked and then he swallowed nervously. The man was right. Sora still had a good amount of Kyuubi's chakra in him. If they only needed a bit… Then capturing Sora would be sufficient and the guy lacked the training to put up much of a fight against S class enemies.

Not wanting to talk to Orochimaru any longer then he needed to, Naruto made his decision. He would simply become so strong that Orochimaru wouldn't be a threat against him. He would be captured and thrown in prison.

"Alright." Naruto said eventually. "I agree to do whatever quests you want me to accomplish, but I want to be able to get stronger. Strong enough to defend my home and those I care about!"

As if there was ever any doubt that was going to be the end of it. Right?

FLASH

X

A moment later, the clearing was empty except for Orochimaru. "Was that really necessary?" Orochimaru asked.

"It was." Chef confirmed. "That boy has a lot of potential. But he still has a lot growing up to do. If he really wants to be Hokage."

Orochimaru just shook his head in response. "The chances of that boy ever getting to be Hokage are small. After all, they denied him his promotion during the chuunin exams some years ago. Even after the missions he did with Jiraiya… Tsunade could have given him a field promotion at any time if Jiraiya thought he was ready."

"What do you think?"

"Me?" Orochimaru asked rhetorically. "I think that unless a miracle happens, something that radically changes the opinion of nearly the entire civilian population AND the shinobi population then his chances of becoming Hokage are as likely as Jiraiya going without sex for a month."

-FLASH-

Orochimaru vanished as well.

X

Kingdark: I'm sorry that it took this long to post an update. But I needed a while to figure out where each character would need to go. I not only need to tell a separate story for every single character but I need to keep track what changes they make as well.

I also apologize for the low word count of this chapter, it is really low but I wanted this out -NOW- anyway. Every chapter that follows will follow a single character. Now, if you the reader have a world of destination for anyone EXCEPT for Naruto, then feel free to mention this in a PM (personal message) any time you wish. Do NOT write it in a review.

Suggestions in reviews will be ignored EXCEPT if they are reasoned out properly.

Anonymous reviews will be ignored.

Single word suggestions will be ignored.

For example, a good example for Sakura could be as a replacement / supporting character for the doctor of Star Trek Voyager. Her presence would teach her a lot, allowing her to surpass Tsunade as a doctor. Now, how would Sakura be capable of working with advanced technology like that of voyager when the Naruto world doesn't even have advanced machinery?

The answer is actually pretty easy as you'll see in chapter seven. Every time they go into a different world, they will be given a background story. Going with Sakura's example, she'll be given a good reason why she is present in voyager in the first place. She could have arrived a few years before voyager leaves and make a name for herself as a talented doctor. Janeway could then ask her to join her crew. Again, this is only a random **example** I thought of right now. (Which means that probably isn't going to happen. Even though Star Trek voyager is my absolute favorite star trek show, with the enterprise series (with Jonathan Archer) a close second.)

Anyway, you folks are free to suggest as you please for any character except for Naruto and **possibly** Orochimaru. I already have a good candidate for Naruto but I'm not sure yet for Orochimaru. Oh and PLEASE for the love of all that is holy, if you make a suggestion, then at least make sure it is at least possible and won't overpower the character immediately. That means NO dragon ball **Z** or dragon ball GT. Dragon ball itself may still be acceptable because in that show, you could argue it was about skill and not about power.

Rant over. Don't worry.

Kingdark

Total word count (with notes): 2010

Total word count (without notes): 1434


	7. When You Are A stranger In A new Land

Naruto – Wanderer

Kingdark: This is probably already obvious, but whenever I put the x in the middle, it is either a scene change or a point or view change.

Chapter 7

When You Are a Stranger in A New World

You _Improvise, improvise, improvise!_

Sakura's point of view

"So, what is it you want aside from the language package?"

"What did the language package do again?" Sakura asked. She wanted time to think, even though she knew perfectly well what the language package meant for her.

Rolling her eyes, Chef obliged her. Even though SHE knew that Sakura knew exactly what the language package contained and what she was trying to do. Honestly, didn't it occur to her to ASK for some time to think?

"Honestly, I thought you mortals could remember things better." Chef complained. It was mostly for show though.

"You can consider the 'language package' part of your basic equipment you'll get when you go on your missions. You will be able to understand both the written and the spoken word but it has a catch. You need to follow a number of steps in the correct order before it can activate. The first requirement is to be exposed to the spoken language for an undetermined amount of time. The specific amount of time is determined by the complexity of the language, how much and how long you are exposed to it and how much you yourself are working for it. If you let the spell do all the work it will take a lot longer than if you actually try to learn the language yourself." Chef explained. Again.

"Understand that depending on the situation, you may already understand them... or not but you could actually speak it. Or not. Like I said, it depends entirely on the situation. The second step is to see the written word and to have the written word read for you. Again, if you study the language on your own the time you'll need for the spell to kick in will be decreased drastically. But, by the end of it, you'll be able to understand, speak and write the language like a native including any and all dialects. But if you can't understand a dialect, simply repeat the previous steps."

"What about 'dead' languages?" Sakura asked curiously. Thanks to her Inner Self (IS) she could multi task like the best of them!

Chef just shrugged. "Dead languages are often the predecessors of modern languages. Learn the modern version of the language and it'll help. Probably."

"But if it doesn't help?" Sakura pressed the issue. Her inner bookworm demanded that all bases were covered.

"Is that what you want?" Chef asked. "For the language package to extend to literally any and all language and not just the ones that humans can pronounce?

Sakura blinked. "That depends…." She said and paused mid-sentence.

"The language package should already have had this in the first place. I don't see a reason why this should count as my freebie at all!"

Chef just laughed in response. Oh, this mortal was going to be incredibly amusing to observe.

"Very well." Chef agreed. "Your language package, and your language package alone will be updated to cover dead languages and any and every other language that could exist. But because some languages are literally impossible for humans to understand, let alone actually speak it… Well, you'll see don't worry. Now, enough stalling already. Tell me what you want as your freebie!"

Sakura on the other hand, had gotten what she wanted. She had been given the time to think about it AND her language package had been improved to boot! She knew _exactly_ what she needed.

"Since I'm going to be on my own for my first mission, I won't be able to count on any backup whatsoever. That means, I will have to be able to create my won backup." Sakura began.

" _Thank you Naruto."_ Sakura thought smugly.

"For me that means clones. If I can create my own clones, then I'll pretty much have my own army at my beck and call. So what I want is the knowledge to any and every clone technique that exists. One problem that I will still have is the fact that I won't be able to do any of them if I don't have the chakra. So in addition of every single clone technique that exists, I want my chakra reserves boosted to their maximum so I'll be able to use them effortlessly as well as the chakra control to match."

X

Chef and innkeeper were beings of incredible power who were bound to few laws. Those few laws however were next to impossible to disobey.

The first rule dictated that they couldn't lie directly to those they were talking too. They didn't need to SAY that they couldn't lie, so they could still trick mortals if they wanted too. They could just as easily leave information out. It wasn't lying if they just didn't mention something right?

The second rule dictated that once they promised something be it either a wish, a favor or something else that they literally couldn't back off. **A favor** could not be withdrawn. **A promise** could not be broken. **A wish** could not be unfulfilled. **A boon** could not be ungiven.

The third rule dictated that once the favor, wish, promise or boon was stated that it couldn't be delayed for long. This had only a single exception. Unless they had a very good reason, like wanting to understand the wish, boon, favor or promise better. But even that was often not enough. Their own power literally wouldn't let them delay, unless their own power **let** them because they had a good reason to delay. That being said, they could still 'understand' the wish however they wanted too. Especially if it was a _**forced**_ favor, promise, wish or boon.

Chef liked Sakura. So she wanted to do as much as she was able. The problem was however, that if Sakura gave too much detail then Chef would be restricted to do much. Even if she wanted to do more.

The advantage in making a detailed wish – for the mortal - is that you knew exactly what you would get and that it left precious little room for beings like Chef and innkeeper to change anything. That was a good thing if you couldn't trust the one fulfilling the wish to not screw you over. On the other hand, though, if you made a detailed wish and the one fulfilling it didn't WANT to screw you over but help you instead, making a detailed wish would prevent them from adding things as well. This was the case with Chef. Sakura had clearly stated what she wanted. It wasn't as detailed as she could go, but it still restricted Chef a little in how much she could squeeze in.

The first part to 'give Sakura bigger chakra reserves' was barely any effort. Making sure she retained her chakra control was a bit harder but still hardly much effort. The last part was where it got tricky. Sakura had already implied that she wanted chakra based clones from her own world. But a bit later she clearly stated 'every single clone technique that exist' and that allowed her to meddle a bit more. Not much but still enough to give her more then she would expect.

Chef had to consider very carefully how she could 'give' Sakura the knowledge without hurting her. This gave her a bit time. But not much, at least not from a mortal's perspective. Beings like Chef and innkeeper could think on a level that not even the smartest mortal could follow so it was plenty of time for Chef. After some careful consideration it was done. Sakura now knew every clone technique based on chakra including other sources of chakra as well such as Ki, Chi or even clones based on magic.

Finally, she had been able to squeeze in knowledge how Sakura could clone herself, her allies or even just animals. Or just about anything she wanted to clone through science. That last bit had been close. Her power had nearly prevented her from doing so but in the end it had allowed her to continue. Since Sakura had seen her team mate doing the Kage bunshin dozens of times, that knowledge was readily available to her. The rest was 'locked' until she could study the books, scrolls or other forms of educational material that she would find. Eventually.

At the last minute, Chef realized that she had forgotten something. Now, normally her power literally wouldn't allow her to 'forget' parts of the wish unless it had honestly not occurred to her to do something. She couldn't deliberately forget something or try to forget about something because her power would punish her and it would come to bite her in the ass later.

In this case it was something she should've thought of from the beginning. Even though Sakura had plenty of books and scrolls to teach her what to do, she still lacked the necessary education to truly understand it. Just because you can follow a number of steps didn't mean you actually knew what you were doing. Giving Sakura the knowledge would be impossible. Chef knew this immediately. The best thing that Chef could do was to change Sakura's body so she would literally be at the highest point of evolution her body could support. Compared to other humans of her world she would be superior in every way. That didn't mean that she was invincible. Far from it in fact, she could still be killed just like everybody else, it would simply be MUCH harder to do. This would allow Sakura to breeze through the material. She would have to find teachers for the practical side of it later.

X

Sakura didn't know what to expect. A light show? Some complicated gesture? Based on what she had seen Chef or innkeeper do, it suggested that they had no need for any form of focus. Not like her own people who needed not only the seals to direct their power but also needed either a verbal component or if that was impossible, then thinking it was a requirement. Or both. So there would probably be no lightshow or any form of focus whatsoever.

"It is done." Chef said simply.

"Really?" Sakura asked. A bit disappointed that she was right. There was no lightshow whatsoever.

"I could make a lightshow if that's what you want." Chef offered in good humor.

Sakura ignored the fact that Chef apparently could read her thoughts and chose to ask a question instead. "Does that mean I now have big enough chakra reserves to put Naruto's to shame?"

Chef started laughing at the question while shaking her head. "Definitely not. Oh boy, no, no, there is no way you could do that."

"But I clearly asked for-"

"Girlie," Chef began, cutting her off rather rudely.

"Your body can only support that much chakra. Trust me when I say you now have the maximum amount of chakra your immature body can handle. You not only have the maximum amount of chakra that you can currently manage but you also have the control as if you had worked for it. Just like you asked.

That special seal of yours? The one where you constantly store chakra in for emergencies? It has been filled with decades' worth of chakra. In fact, the seal has the chakra in it, as if you had literally drained your complete chakra reserves for _years_. In fact, it has the amount of chakra stored in it, as if you pushed yourself to chakra exhaustion for decades, **just** to fill that reservoir of yours up. That is on TOP of the reserves you now have. So just to make this clear, you can still add to the chakra reserves you have now, but you would have to work for it.

So I think I have more than fulfilled my part of our bargain, don't you agree?"

There was only one answer that Sakura could give. Some groveling probably wouldn't be amiss either. But Sakura wasn't that sort of person. She would apologize but she wouldn't let her drop to THAT level.

"You did. Fulfill our bargain I mean. I'm sorry if you thought otherwise." Sakura said quietly.

Chef just glared at Sakura for several more moments before nodding. "Fine. Apology accepted. It's forgotten and forgiven. Just take care to not do it again."

Sakura just nodded wordlessly but still couldn't resist to ask another question.

"So… and I really don't mean to be rude or anything but… Does that mean I have at least enough chakra to use Kage bunshin as easily as Naruto can?" It was nearly the same question as before, but chef understood what Sakura actually meant to ask.

"Yes, you can use Kage bunshin and even its overpowered big brother without too much effort but you won't be able to use it as recklessly as Naruto can. Compared to him you would probably be able to use the big brother of Kage bunshin say… three times? Yhea, that sounds about right." Chef said, nodding to herself.

"If you are smart about it, you could probably use the regular Kage bunshin all day long without feeling it. That doesn't mean you won't feel the drain though. I would advise to remain cautious in using the technique until you figure out your own limitations. But considering all the clone techniques you have at your disposal, I dare say Kage bunshin would probably be overkill in most situations." Chef said with a shrug.

"I don't feel any different…" Sakura muttered.

"That's because you are in **my** world. Normal laws don't apply here unless I desire it. Think about it like this, in this place, I'm God. There are very few things that could touch me, let alone actually injure me. Trust me about that one. Anyway, since I clearly completed my part of our bargain, I think it's time we moved on. I'll get to your mission briefing and then I'll drop you off."

"Very well." Sakura said with a nod. "Where am I going and what am I going to do?"

"You are, to quote a famous franchise, -which I definitely do **not** own- going to a galaxy, far, far away." Chef said simply. Sakura could tell that she was amused by something but she had no idea what it could be.

Chef decided that she couldn't drop Sakura without giving her at least **some** idea what she was getting herself into. Again, something occurred to chef. Something that she should've thought about it immediately. What about Sakura's lack of knowledge in technology? It would be painfully obvious to ANYONE in the Star Wars galaxy that Sakura came from a primitive planet. That begged the question. Should she make sure that Sakura knew the basics at least? It wouldn't have to be complicated, just enough knowledge that it wouldn't be immediately obvious. The knowledge a child would have of the world.

Yes. Chef decided. That much she could do. That being said however...

Chef gave a very basic history lesson, with some of the major factions, what the Jedi were about and what the Sith were about.

"Okay," Sakura said after a moment. "While that information is going to be very useful it still doesn't tell me what I'm going to **do**."

"I still haven't finished." Chef admonished her. Chef went a bit more into detail, particularly about a certain slave boy and what he could become if there wasn't any meddling.

"So, first of all, find transportation to get to Tatooine and enough money to purchase Anakin and his mother." Chef stated, holding up two fingers.

"That won't be as easy as you will think, but you'll be arriving about six months before the Jedi would discover him. How you spent that time is up to you, as long as you have Anakin and his mum before the Jedi find him. If you fail to complete this objective, you fail the mission. If you fail, the mission… You don't want to know." Chef explained calmly.

"Assuming you have Anakin and his mum, your next priority is to find a freelance Jedi teacher. If you can hire Count Dooku before his fall to the dark side, you may have the man you're looking for."

"You'll have to figure out yourself who this person is and how to acquire his services." Chef added to stop any questions.

"Your next objective is to go to Naboo, establish yourselves there and make sure that Anakin plays a role in the space battle that will eventually happen."

Sakura opened her mouth to ask for details but she had a feeling that she wouldn't be getting any.

"Once you are established on Naboo… You have to make a name for yourselves. Recruit more people that can manipulate chakra…. Whatever. Just make sure you have your own faction."

"May I ask why?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Why what?" Chef asked.

"Why do I need to make my own faction?"

"You'll see. But trust me, you will want your own people. You will be needing them."

"W-what?" Sakura repeated dumbly. "Why would I WANT a job like that? That's Naruto's dream. Definitely not mine. I don't need the migraine that the paperwork alone brings me. I saw my master work overtime plenty of times!" Sakura protested.

"It could make your next objective easier." Chef said with a shrug.

Sakura blinked again. "Okay, so what is my next objective?"

"Your ultimate objective is to kill Darth Sidious."

"Who?" Sakura asked confused.

" _That's right."_ Chef thought. She had kept the details to a minimum. Sakura didn't know anything about the clone wars. The basics would do."

"Within the next ten years there will be a major war. A war that has the very real possibility to wipe the Jedi out or come really close to it and to install a ruthless dictatorship as well."

"Okay, I can see why I would need more chakra users then." Chakra remarked after a moment.

"I'm assuming that this Darth Sidious is the person that is behind the whole thing?" Sakura asked logically.

"Correct. But I can't give you any details about who it is." Chef answered.

"So far, I don't think you've given me any objectives that I won't be able to do." Sakura said slowly.

"I mean, I'm sure that I can get to Tatooine and get my hands on Anakin and his mum before the deadline." Sakura paused and repeated the words in her head. "Okay, that was just a bad choice of words." Sakura said after a moment.

"Anyway, assuming I can get Anakin and his mum and I can convince them to stick with me… Which might be a problem if I _can't_ convince them but… I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." Sakura said simply.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I can get transportation to Naboo. Especially if I already have my own transportation. Once I do get to Naboo, getting a place of my own can't be too hard. I hope. But there's nothing that some good old violence can't solve." She was a shinobi after all. Violence was in her job description.

Sakura fully agreed with rule seventeen in chapter one of the unofficial shinobi handbook, leaf edition: there is no such thing as overkill.

"I'm not entirely sure who this Dooku is, but if you mentioned him I'm hopeful I can figure it out. Any information has a price after all. It's just a matter of finding it. Or the right talent to acquire it."

"Making a name for ourselves will be harder. Especially if Anakin has to take part in some space battle. I don't have a clue how that will work but I could probably get my hands on a ship to make it work." Sakura concluded.

"It is highly unlikely you will be able to stop that big war from happening. Even in the unlikely event you take out Darth Sidious… War is probably inevitable." Chef replied.

"I see…" Sakura muttered. Sakura decided she would take it one day at a time. She would decide later.

There was a short but uncomfortable silence that Sakura was the first to break.

"So to summarize… Get to Tatooine by any means necessary before Anakin is recruited for the Jedi-"

"Oh, I nearly forgot. Don't let them check your blood unless you make the move. Because chakra and the force are so similar, you have an unusual high amount of midi-chlorians in your blood."

"Okay…" Sakura answered slowly. That was sort of sudden but she just went with it. _"Got to remember that."_

"So, after I get Anakin and his mum, go to Naboo, get a home there, make sure that Anakin and his mum stick with me willingly. Recruit more chakra users and of course, work for it so I can take out Darth Sidious once I figure out who it is."

X

Kingdark: I didn't MEAN to end it here but… I took ages to get it to this point. Seriously, just this whole chapter was meant to be the start of it. I wanted her to get IN the Star Wars universe by the end of it. Oh well. I hope you don't mind me breaking the fourth wall that one time. I just couldn't resist.

So here are Sakura's objectives she needs to complete. Take notice that there may be additions to this list. As for how this would rank… I have no idea at this point.

These are Sakura's objectives in order, she wrote down in a sort of journal. Think of it as a mini extra scene.

Earn money, get transportation or BUY transportation to Tatooine. By any means necessary.

Find Anakin and his mum and purchase them.

Get them to follow willingly.

Go to Naboo, purchase a property and make a name for yourselves in preparation for the space battle.

Train Anakin so he's familiar with spacecraft.

Incidentally, I need to train myself too.

Recruit others and teach them how to access their chakra. I've ten years give or take so I should have some time at least.

See if I can't develop chakra technology or something. With the advanced tech they got, surely I could make myself some goodies?

Can I use clones to hurry this along?

Below this paragraph, you'll see a short list of characters with a number of 'jobs' next to them. This will be their primary focus. It will fit with their character and how I'm writing them. The first ability will be their main focus. So logically, their second 'ability' will be their next best ability with the third the ability they are worst in. I'm keeping it to 'only' three abilities, or should I say 'jobs' because I have enough characters to spread out any job they could need. Together they will be able to handle anything.

Finally, you'll see that it won't be the entire cast of characters. That's because I'm only filling in the ones that you can already guess, or I already have right out revealed. Some might not even have a second or even a third job at this point. With every new chapter, I'll reveal more and I will add a 'note' as well like I do with Kakashi here. Again, nothing that could be considered out of character for the characters as I describe them.

Sakura: Medic / diplomat / ?

Sasuke: ? / ? / ?

Naruto: ? / ? / ?

Kakashi: ? / ? / ?

Note: Kakashi will sacrifice all of his copies techniques in return for mastering a few of his choice. In addition, he'll be given enough knowledge so he could be capable of recreating literally any technique of his choice. Take that how you wish.

Sai: ? / ? / ?

Tenzo: ? / ? / ?

Orochimaru: seals master / ? / ?

Total word count with notes: 4049

Total word count without notes: 3479

Word count notes only: 521


	8. When You Stand Out In A crowd Part 2

Naruto – Wanderer

Kingdark: So, I sort of feel guilty that Sakura hasn't been dropped off yet. So I decided that I would get that over with and then start with the next character: Kakashi.

Note: his conversation with innkeeper takes place at the same time as Sakura's.

Note the second: this is also the last time I will be breaking the fourth wall I promise. You'll see what I'm talking about.

If anyone can guess the rather obvious shout out to a certain over-the-top-anime, then you'll get a cameo at your request.

Chapter 8

When You Stand Out in A Crowd… Part 2

Sakura's point of view

X

" _ **So, after I get Anakin and his mum, go to Naboo, get a home there, make sure that Anakin and his mum stick with me willingly. Recruit more chakra users and of course, work for it so I can take out Darth Sidious once I figure out who it is."**_

X

"That's right." Chef confirmed.

"But to get to that point, you'll have to work hard; Don't think for a second that it will be easy."

"I could've guessed that." Sakura admitted. "There is one thing though…"

"Yes?"

"How can I continue to improve myself? I mean… I know that I'm decent for a chuunin, but I'm definitely not of Jounin level at this point. I know that the things I know are my ace in the hole. NOBODY knows what I can do or how I'm doing it. But once they realize that, they could kill me easily."

"So what are you asking me?" Chef asked.

"I don't know." Sakura admitted.

"I just think I need a way to become stronger."

"You don't think having an entire galaxy at your disposal with all of its different cultures is enough?"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond when she realized that Chef had a point. She could just continue to perfect the skills she had now. There were probably hundreds if not thousands of martial arts techniques out there if you knew where to look.

Sensing that Sakura had nothing else to say, chef decided to drop her off with style.

X

It came out of nowhere but all of the sudden, chef started shouting, an aura appearing around her. Sakura _thought_ she heard a voice say something like 'it's over ten thousand' but she wasn't certain if she had.

Then, Sakura found herself being physically thrown into an ugly looking portal and the most awful feeling like she was being pulled apart and then put together again but _wrong_.

Then the feeling was over and she found herself in an entirely different place. She was standing in what seemed to be a poor part of a city. Everything was rundown and barely functioning. Sakura looked up to try and find out what time it was but she couldn't even decide if it was daytime or nighttime. There was too much artificial light to say for sure.

Sakura took another look around and noted that she was there alone and that she was dressed in her usual outfit. She checked her supplies and confirmed that she was fully supplied. The only thing that was not supposed to be there were a handful of miniature scrolls. She knew instinctively that they contained all the knowledge she could need about creating clones as well as background knowledge about medicine and biology.

Sakura then started walking. She had to gather information about lots of things. Her first priority right now was getting familiar with the language.

How could she do that again?

" _Right, first priority, mingle with the crowds and listen in. That will increase my understanding of the language in that I can both understand it and speak it."_ Sakura thought to herself.

" _Once I do get an understanding of the language and I can both understand it and speak it, I can see to get myself some money. Of course, to do that I need to figure out what counts for money around here."_ It was then that Sakura realized just how out of her depth she really was. She also felt incredibly lonely too.

" _At least I have six months' time to learn all that stuff."_ That still didn't mean it wasn't an easy thing to do. Except, just as she was planning things out, she was hit with an incredible migraine. Sakura stumbled and nearly fell onto the ground but she managed to stop herself and keep walking. Once it stopped hurting, she realized her previous questions were answered. She knew what counted for money around here and for some reason she also no longer needed to follow the steps to learn about 'basic' around here.

Sakura instinctively knew that it was an apology from Chef because she was already supposed to have the knowledge before she appeared here. Just basic knowledge though. The apology was probably for the migraine she was hit with.

Still, Sakura realized upon reviewing what she actually knew that her information, her knowledge was very limited. Like that of a young, naïve child.

Now that her immediate worries were dealt with, she could focus on her next objective. Figuring out where she was, getting enough money for transportation to get of the planet either as a passenger or acquire her own transportation as owner. That would mean she had to hire a crew.

Sakura continued to mingle with the crowd, listening in to random conversations, following some if it seemed like an interesting topic, but she continued to move upwards. Still, she managed to figure out where she was eventually. On Coruscant. The capital of the republic. It was ironic that she was probably in the best location to get transportation but she was also on the planet where thousands of Jedi lived.

" _Do_ _ **not**_ _let the Jedi find you or test your blood…"_ Chef's words were clear. Well, she had said that they couldn't test her blood, but Sakura took that to mean that they couldn't find her to begin with.

Hadn't chef mentioned something about chakra and the force being alike? Or something? If that was true, and she wasn't imagining things then using Ninjutsu or even genjutsu might cause the Jedi to come running to investigate.

That didn't mean she couldn't experiment though. Cause a ruckus with heavy Ninjutsu techniques and watch from a distance. See if something happened and most important of all, she could **never** let her guard down. She didn't know HOW she knew this, but she just knew.

Sakura began pickpocketing wealthy looking individuals. She refused to steal money from people who looked like they were barely surviving. But the wealthy? Yhea, they were fair game as far as she was concerned.

That was the beginning of a routine for her. She would get on the streets, pick a completely different area every time, pickpocket the credits of enough people, then rent a room in what counted for an inn and then repeat the whole thing the next day, moving around and gathering information as she was going at it. She was looking for something where the credits were high but the risk was high as well. Considering she looked like a human teenager… That meant the odds would be against her which meant that if she created another clone that would bet against her opponent that she would rake in the credits and nobody would be the wiser!

She could even begin sabotaging the fights in her favor. Nobody knew what she could do, so for now she could operate without limitations whatsoever. Well… As long as she didn't get arrogant and she kept an eye out for those troublesome Jedi.

Of course, her luck couldn't last for long…

She was just going about her business of making the wealthy just a little poorer when a voice interrupted her in the middle of it.

"So you're the one causing the wealthy to complain about a talented pickpocket AND you're the one that's causing a ruckus in the Force as well! I would like to talk to you for a bit, so if you would come with me…" The guy in old fashioned robes half requested half ordered. Sakura could feel a light compulsion backing his words but she shook it off effortlessly. Just as she shook it off, Sakura noticed that his hand was lowering and going into his pocket for what she could only assume was a weapon of some sort. Too bad for him that she picked his pockets already without him even realizing it.

"I'm, sorry, but are you looking for this?" Sakura asked, pulling the _thing_ out of her own pocket.

The Jedi froze as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Miss, that's a dangerous weapon, you could cut off your own arm if you don't know how to handle it. Give it _**here**_."

This time there was no mistake. There was a strong compulsion to his words. But just like before, Sakura shook it off. Albeit with just a bit more effort. Still, Sakura had a feeling that it wasn't the full power that the guy could go.

Sakura decided then and there that she had pushed her luck far enough. She had enough credits to go off world and that's what she would do. From there she could arrange for transport to Tatooine or perhaps buy a small ship with the crew to fly it. For now, though…

"I wonder how much this thing will sell on the Black market." Sakura said out loud. Hard enough that the Jedi definitely couldn't miss it. It also served to tell the Jedi that his trick had failed.

"If you want your weapon back… You'll have to catch me first. You'll have exactly twenty-four hours to catch me or you'll never see this thing again." That said, she threw several smoke bombs on the grounds, created a clone and then disguised herself to look like a random civilian. Then Sakura switched herself with something in the middle of the crowd and calmly walked away. She had an appointment with a ship off world in couple of hours.

X

Sakura point of view END

X

X

Kakashi' point of view START

When A Genius Haggles For The Perfect Deal  
Part 1

X

"So what do you want?" Innkeeper asked.

"Huh?" Kakashi asked. He was still looking around and figuring out what had just happened. He had not meant to be taken away from Naruto like that even if he agreed with the deal being made.

"I want to see Naruto again, before I tell you what I want." Kakashi replied firmly.

"Why?" Innkeeper asked curiously.

"Why?" Kakashi repeated. "Because disappearing like that looks like I'm abandoning him!"

"He doesn't think you're abandoning him." Innkeeper answered him. "He already thinks you abandoned him since that time during the chuunin exams when you threw him to another teacher to deal with."

"That's not true!" Kakashi retorted. "He understood why I had to teach Sasuke one on one!"

"Really now?" Innkeeper was amused. "It's not like you gave him much of a choice but to accept it you know." He pointed out logically.

"Besides, this is something he needs to deal with on his own. So I will ask you for a second time, what is it you want aside from the language packet you already get?"

Kakashi was known by many as a genius. He had been killing when he was barely out of diapers -literally- so being asked a question like that was overwhelming.

"I..."

"I… don't know?" Kakashi asked confused.

"You don't know?" Innkeeper repeated.

"Could you decrease the amount of chakra that Obito's eye has on my chakra reserves?"

"Sure. I can do that." Innkeeper agreed. "But that isn't enough to count for a full boon. Not compared to what the others have asked.

"Well," Kakashi began. There _was_ something that had been bothering him. He was known to have copied over a thousand techniques but honestly… He probably could only use a hundred of them. Having copied a technique did not mean you actually understood what it did. Or what effect it had on your chakra reserves.

Innkeeper was taking a different approach then his wife. He was actively listening to Kakashi's thoughts so he could predict what the man wanted.

"I am known throughout the world to have copied over a thousand techniques." Kakashi began. "But honestly, out of all of them, I could probably only use a hundred of them easily. When the other guy, does another technique that falls outside those hundred, then I can copy him again but… That's the only time I could, so…" Kakashi explained.

"The problem is that with those nine hundred other techniques that I can't do, is that I don't know how much chakra they will use. That actually also applies when I copy an enemy but I know instinctively if I have to cut off or not.

It is very hard to remember nine hundred separate techniques and I definitely don't remember which techniques I can do effortlessly and what techniques I have problems with." He continued.

"So, I was thinking that in return for a true mastery of a number of techniques, I sacrifice a number of techniques BUT I retain enough Ninjutsu / seal knowledge to craft them again from scratch."

The following conversation could be easily compared to a customer and a shopkeeper arguing about price, quantity and quality. Except in this case it was the amount of Ninjutsu that Kakashi would keep, would sacrifice and what knowledge he would gain in return. Not only that, but the deal was worded in such a way that Kakashi would be capable of recreating ANY technique he saw based on the knowledge he already possessed.

That was what the boon would be about. On top of that, Kakashi would need to figure out what role he had to play for as long as they worked together. Kakashi was sure that even by the end of their first mission, that they would have a LOT of experience under their belt. No backup or support whatsoever. None of them had the training to remain loyal to Konoha above all else. Above any of the friends they may make, above literally anything. Except maybe for Sai.

Having finished their argument about what Kakashi would get, innkeeper went for the next big question mark as far as Kakashi was concerned.

"Now that your boon has been dealt with… I will brief you about where you are going and what your objective is going to be."

Innkeeper and chef were beings of incredible power and that allowed them to multi task like no other. That included watching as each member of team seven was given their boon and was debriefed at the same time. So innkeeper knew that unlike Sakura for example, Kakashi would need a more challenging objective.

"There is a galaxy out there, where the main power is an alien race of parasites. They take humans as hosts and forcefully suppress the human consciousness while still letting them see what's going on. They have enslaved most of the galaxy aside from a few planets that are protected by a race ten times as advanced as they are."

Innkeeper continued to explain some of the details. Some of the history of the Goa'uld and the fact that they were scavengers as well.

After the basic background was completed, the only thing left to do was give Kakashi his objectives and then drop him off.

"As you can probably imagine, the system lords are a big problem." Innkeeper began. Kakashi didn't respond as he felt this was a rhetorical question.

"But just eliminating them would cause a power vacuum. Jaffa have a tendency to look down on regular humans even though most don't even realize it for the most part."

"There will be bad apples everywhere." Kakashi said with a shrug.

"True." Inn keeper agreed.

"So, what do you think the best solution is then?"

Kakashi blinked. "Isn't that kind of obvious? If eliminating the system lords even one at a time will cause a power vacuum, then you just need to make sure a faction exists that can fill in the empty space of the defeated system Lord."

"Thought so." Inn keeper agreed.

"But I'm hardly a faction by myself." Kakashi added. "In fact, even if I were to find other people with chakra potential, it could take decades before they are anywhere near ready, let alone have enough numbers to take on the armies of a low level Goa'uld let alone a system lord." Kakashi didn't have anything to back it up with, with what he said but he could read between the lines.

"That's why you have to make yourself an ally to the Jaffa rebellion. Make your own allies, build your own base. Nobody has an inkling in what you can do. So just do what you do best."

"What do you think I can do best?" Kakashi asked with narrowed eyes.

"Be an AnBu of course." Innkeeper stated in an, 'I'm telling the obvious' kind of tone."

"And what sort of thing do you think an AnBu has to be good in?" Kakashi asked in a dangerous low voice.

Innkeeper looked like he was humoring Kakashi by answering his questions.

"Stealth, information gathering, the occasional assassination to stop alliances from happening. More sabotage. Gain more resources. Perhaps as the master of your own planet in some way…"

"No, no, NO!" Kakashi said immediately. "I am not, nor will I ever be willing to take the position of a leader of that scale. I couldn't even teach a team of Genin properly. One became a traitor, another left the village for three years and the third became the apprentice of an addict drunk and gambler."

"Ouch." Innkeeper remarked.

Kakashi winced at his own hard words but it wasn't like Tsunade knew he had said this. Right?

"You wouldn't have to be the obvious man in charge." Innkeeper remarked. "You could be the one in the shadows, teaching, directing with the occasional in public appearance."

Kakashi did not look like he was even _ **close**_ to accept this line of objective, so Innkeeper decided to let it be. This time.

"What am I supposed to do then?" Kakashi asked. "Wait, wait don't answer that. If I can't create my own faction, then I need to see if there is already a faction available that is closest to my own goals…"

"Smart boy." Innkeeper said sarcastically.

"You're lucky that I was already going to give you this information. But the place where most of the humans come from is a planet called earth. The Goa'uld would begin referring to them as Tau'ri. It basically means 'those of the first world' or something like that at least. The planet of the Tau'ri was abandoned which allowed them to develop without being enslaved by the Goa'uld… Eventually though they are going to figure out what the stargate is about and when they do they are going to kick an ant's nest. They won't have a clue what they will be up against and while they will come out of it in a good position that's mostly because of luck." The fact that it had to do with plot as well, innkeeper left unsaid.

"Okay, but they will hardly trust a stranger to tell them what to do." Kakashi pointed out logically.

"You won't be telling them what to do. But if they meet you, and you happen to give them a few good pieces of advice…"

"That would still change nothing about the fact I am only a single man."

"No, but it would give you access to more advance weaponry. Well, relatively compared to what the Goa'uld use at least. Since you are going to run out of kunai and shuriken and just about everything eventually."

"That's true." Kakashi agreed. "I am far from a blacksmith. Or an engineer. Even my knowledge of seals is only what I need to know related to my job."

Innkeeper rolled his eyes.

"Remember, once all system lords are dealt with and a sufficiently big faction has taken its place that is not just as bad, then your mission is complete. I'll contact you when it comes to that." Then, Kakashi found himself in an entirely different location, with him holding a piece of paper he definitely wasn't holding before.

 _I almost forgot._

 _Just like the other members of team seven, including Orochimaru you are now at the best you can be. You are at your absolute best. It's up to YOU to keep it that way because I'm only going to do this once._

 _Ps_

 _You may refer to me as Ink in the future. That's less confusing as innkeeper don't you agree?_

 _Ink._

X

Kingdark: More information about the roles of my characters and a bit extra information to back it up. Some of my character's skill will overlap. Because they have to be capable on their own as well. If you disagree about how I design this, feel free to point it out but BACK IT UP with reason and FACTS.

Thank you

X

Sakura: Medic / Diplomat / close combat specialist

Kakashi: infiltrator / Stealth / X

Sakura:

Medic: specialist in biology, poison etc.

Diplomat: her experience with Tsunade and her experience in her first mission shaped this.

Close combat specialist: Her training with Tsunade backed this up and few things can stand her monstrous strength.

Kakashi:

Infiltrator = assassin, saboteur & spy

Stealth = Kakashi was AnBu and AnBu means Black ops. That means stealth. And even though he can definitely hold his own, it isn't his forte so to speak. Yes, I know that he became Hokage for a while and you can't definitely be that if you are weak. But THAT Kakashi isn't THIS Kakashi. Important detail to remember. This Kakashi has let his skills slip, since he's no longer AnBu.

Total word count with notes: 3677

Total word count without notes: 3364


End file.
